🧨🤦♂️ Spotify Raising Prices in Key Markets
Happy Wednesday all,
I haven’t watched a ton of March Madness this year because the team and I have been really busy with getting more content out but I did find myself tuning into the LSU-Iowa Elite 8 game earlier this week and what a treat it was! The Women’s tournament has been more interesting than the Men’s tournament so far - the storylines, the continuity, the stars!
Aside from the basketball, I also couldn’t help but notice a set of AI-related ads that play on our fear of robots taking over our lives before completely flipping the script and telling us that AI isn’t that scary. Really interesting marketing from Invesco. I’ll attach the link to one of the ads below in case you were interested. Curious to know your thoughts on this! Comment or reply to this e-mail thread and let me know.
In personal news, I’ve been running more often and I’m up to 6~ish miles on my long run. My latest 3 mile run was done at an average pace of 9:07-9:15 so I am speeding up!
Lastly, if you have any personal questions about finance, investing, money, budgeting, etc - you can always ask it in our free Discord. I try my best to get back to everyone in there if a question is tagged @ me.
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
👀 Eye-Catching Headlines
📚 Business Schools Are Going All In on AI (WSJ)
🗳️ 10,000 Migrant Crossings a Day Upend the US Presidential Election (Bloomberg)
📊 The Jobs Numbers Aren’t Adding Up. Immigration Helps Explain Why. (WSJ)
🚗 Waymo self-driving cars are delivering Uber Eats orders for first time (CNBC)
🌏 Taiwan Quake Puts World’s Most Advanced Chips at Risk (Bloomberg)
🔎 Google Is More Resilient Than Its AI Stumbles Imply (WSJ)
📉 US Services Growth Cools as Price Gauge Drops to Four-Year Low (Bloomberg)
The Weekly Brief
In March, ADP data showed that US companies added 184,000 jobs, above the 150,000 consensus estimate. Wage growth accelerated for both job switchers and those who stayed in their jobs, increasing 10% and 5.1% over the past year respectively.
On Friday, the government will release its monthly employment report, which is expected to show the slowest payroll growth since November.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently noted in a press conference that any “unexpected weakening in the labor market could warrant a policy response”, even if it means higher inflation in the short term.
Spotify Raises Prices and Introduces New Subscription Plans
Spotify is set to increase the prices of its audio service by $1 to $2 a month in several key markets including the UK and Australia, marking the second price hike within a year, as part of its strategy to achieve long-term profitability. A price increase in the US is expected to come later this year.
This move is partly to offset the costs associated with audiobooks, a new service introduced by Spotify that allows customers up to 15 hours of audiobook listening as part of their paid plan.
Spotify is also introducing a new basic tier for music and podcasts at the current price of the individual premium plan, excluding audiobooks, and is considering a "supremium" plan.
Fed Blocks Strict Global Climate Regulations for Financial Institutions
US regulators led by the Federal Reserve, recently blocked efforts to integrate climate risk into global financial regulations.
Despite the European Central Bank's push for the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to have more stringent climate regulations, US officials cited concerns that the committee was overstepping its purpose and mandate.
In the past, various Fed governors have noted that climate risks weren’t “sufficiently unique or material to merit special treatment relative to other risks” and could ultimately distract attention and resources from core risks including credit and interest rates.