Spotify Teams With Hulu On Package Deal For College Students

Spotify and Hulu are teaming up to see if college students — and, later, others — might like them better together, for a bargain price.

The music and video streaming services say this morning that, beginning today, U.S. college undergrads can pay $4.99 a month for what they call: “Spotify Premium for Students, now with Hulu.”

This is “the first step the companies are taking to bundle their services together, with offerings targeted at the broader market to follow,” the companies say.

The price matches Spotify’s existing music without ads offering for undergrads at Title IV accredited colleges or universities. The new plan adds Hulu’s Limited Commercials video-on-demand service, which typically costs $7.99 a month.

Users will continue to access the services through their respective apps. Current Spotify Premium for Student subs can switch to the new offer with Hulu.

This is the first time that Spotify has joined forces with a TV and movie service.

Hulu’s “a like-minded company which is as focused as we are on delivering the very best in high quality streaming content,” says Spotify Chief Premium Business Officer Alex Norstrom.

Hulu Head of Distribution and Partnerships Tim Connolly calls Spotify “an iconic brand in music streaming and a proven leader in reaching and engaging young consumers.”

The alliance comes as Spotify — which faces intensifying competition from Pandora, Google Music, Apple and others — weighs a plan to offer shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, bypassing the SEC’s IPO process.

Spotify hopes to trade its existing, privately held, equity by early next year, Bloomberg reports. It wants a direct listing, in part, to avoid underwriting fees and requirements to make detailed public disclosures — which it considers unnecessary since it would not raise additional cash or solicit stockholders.

Still, the SEC has called execs in to question them about the plan, the news service says.

Spotify says it has more than 140 million active users globally, including at least 60 million paying subscribers across 61 markets.

Hulu is co-owned by Comcast, Disney, Fox, and Time Warner.