June 21 (Reuters) - Spotify ( SPOT ) introduced a new

streaming plan for users in the United States on Friday, after

raising prices for its premium plans earlier this month.

The new basic plan will start at $10.99 per month for

eligible users. It will have the streaming benefits of a premium

plan, but no monthly audiobook listening time.

Premium plans allow users to listen to offline ad-free music

and 15 hours of audiobook listening time per month.

Spotify ( SPOT ) raised the prices for premium plans earlier in June,

the latest step by the Swedish music-streaming service in its

push to increase margins.

The company raised prices of its individual plan to $11.99

from $10.99 per month, duo plan to $16.99 from $14.99 and its

family plan to $19.99 from $16.99 in the United States, its

largest market by revenue.

Spotify ( SPOT ) has been trying to boost its margins in recent

months by lowering marketing spending and through layoffs, after

relying on promotions and hefty investments to drive user

growth.

The audio-streaming giant is looking to introduce a new

expensive plan for its most ardent users later this year,

Bloomberg News reported last week, with the plan likely to cost

$5 more per month for access to better audio and fresh tools for

creating playlists and managing song libraries.