Google raising price of YouTube Premium to $13.99 per month

Still better than cable ever was. No long term contracts, extra fees on bills, tons of useless channels and tons of ads.

I think people forget how bad cable TV actually is if they haven't used it for a while.

The early 2000s was before streaming was ever a thing. Netflix was still sending DVDs in the mail en masse.

I think they know people who aren't paying already won't buy it, so they are raising prices on those that found enough value in it to use it. There is YouTube music bundled with it that some like, so seems like smart strategy to me.

What are you guys getting for that money? I honestly don't know. I just use either an ad blocker or the newpipe app.

I'm unfamiliar but just read a bit. Are updates to the apk manual? Does the android app sync to a browser or desktop version?

“We need to be inflation winners”

Actual line from the C-level strategy meeting at my company.

I’m fairly certain we’re not alone.

Next; let’s talk about how recessions are made….

It helps support creators more than ads, at least on an individual level; a portion of your subscription goes to the creators that you actually watch, or at least that's what I've heard. Other than that, just YouTube Music and higher bitrate playback.

Watching YouTube on the TV without ads and at higher resolution

You probably can, but I'm lazy ;) I like it. Got the family one so everybody in my house can use it. We listen to a LOT of music on youtube music in my house, and a few of the others like watching cooking shows and silly junk on youtube. There's some pretty decent content. You can get by with ad blockers and stuff, but since I use the music app in my car and at work I prefer not to deal with all that.

For most people, there's probably not much reason to pay for it.

Edit: Not happy with the constant price hikes though. It seems like the bump the price by a little every year or two.

I've yet to be made aware of any benefits at all. None of what you get from premium is either interesting or relevant.

I got put into Youtube Premium when Google Play Music merged, so I think of it as equivalent to Spotify premium, but also: you can also upload your own music library, you get ads removed on Youtube videos, and offline play for both music and videos.

It's decently worth it if you reference Spotify Premium's cost (and also I've been at 9.99USD/mo this whole time and not been hit with any price increases at all for some reason?)

As with all monopolies/cartels/prohibitions unsatisfied demand always finds alternatives. If the rules get in the way people circumvent them. Youtube premium price increases will create a bigger demand for ad blocking. Just as the balkanisation of streaming services and reduced value will return many people to piracy. The people who run these organisations are idiots who destroy brands and shareholder value to get short term attention and bonuses.

I am very selective with what I watch but even so the amount of good content on youtube exceeds my available time while other services have a couple of shows a year to binge and then they can be dropped. With writers and actors striking conventional content is only going to get thinner for the other streaming services. There is a limit to what I will pay for a painless ad free experience for the whole family on all their devices and Youtube is rapidly approaching it.

Same. I used GPM, then when they added YouTube Premium, I used that too. When they killed GPM in favor of YTM, I dropped the entire service.

damn, i've been coasting on that for ages

To be fair YouTube pays them more for premium subscriber views.

Probably because it helps a bit to offset their high losses for infrastructure (servers, bandwidth, storage, compute for compression, search, indexing and backups, electricity, networking, employee wages)

Yeah, I can't disagree honestly. The Disney+/Hulu/ESPN ad free bundle is like $20/month usd.

You've been paying the Apple Tax!

Did you buy it through the iOS app? Because they are 30% more.

Existing subscribers will start to see the new pricing with their next billing cycle. An upcoming email will explain the changes. Those who were grandfathered in five years ago (with Google Play Music and/or YouTube Red) will get three additional months at their current rate.

in the uk it used to be £18 now £20 .. that's about €23 or $25

I really doubt music is a serious expense, it's basically just a shallow reskin of the main app. It's like complaining YouTube Kids is bundled with premium.

Yeah they keep changing the structure of the plan. Music used to be a separate package I think? That was years ago.

I wouldn't call it fluff though :P I (initially) got it specifically for the music, and that's what gets the most use from my family :) I guess that doesn't make it any less fluff for you though. I agree that it should be a separate package.

Hate to break it to you, but grandfathered accounts are all getting hit with the price increase emails now as well. I just got mine an hour ago. Thought I was safe since they promised back in the day to honor the 9.99 price... nope, they expect 13.99 soon, but are giving grandfathered accounts a 3 month extension as a "thank you" for their loyalty.

Same, that's pretty much my break point for something like this. I use youtube a lot so I don't mind paying a small amount to remove ads and still have creators get a cut, though I understand why others hate the system.

youll have to pay with a cc based in, say the UK, so they'll automatically change your location back to the UK. doesn't work anymore.