Spotify now offering family plans

Music-streaming app Spotify is dropping its price for people wanting to link up with their family.

After someone buys the initial account for $9.99 a month, each additional family member would receive a Spotify Premium subscription for 50% off, or $4.99. Each family member’s preferences and listening history would be separate; only billing details would be shared.

“This is one of the most-asked-for features from our audience,� says Ken Parks, chief content officer at Spotify.

Streaming music services are the bright spot for the U.S. music industry, bringing in about 27% of total revenue in the first half of 2014. Their growing use helped offset a 12% decline in permanent downloads of singles, albums and music videos from January through June, the Recording Industry Assn. of America said last month.

But just 7.8 million people in the United States have paid subscriptions to music streaming providers, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Netflix, the leader in the streaming video space, has 37.2 million subscribers in the United States and expects to add in a handful of months as many new subscribers as music streaming services added in the last year.

At about $7.50 a person for two family members, Spotify is now more in line with the $8.99 that Netflix charges. Rdio, a Spotify competitor that also charges $9.99 a month, offers only 20% off the second account and then 50% off subsequent accounts.

Chat with me on Twitter @peard33.