- YouTube Premium has quietly raised its tier prices
- Google started emailing users about the change before announcing it
- For many subscribers, this may be the final straw
YouTube Premium is the latest subscription service to raise its prices in the US, but the timing couldn’t be more awkward — especially as it follows controversy over its unskippable 90-second ads for free users.
As seen by eagle-eyed users on Reddit, YouTube has already increased its monthly fees across all of its plans, including its budget Premium Lite tier, which only launched last year. With the new changes in place, subscription prices have increased by as much as $4.
The standard YouTube Premium individual subscription has now increased to $15.99 per month from $13.99, while the new family subscription is now $26.99 per month instead of $22.99. YouTube Premium Lite will now cost $8.99, up $1, and Music Premium is $11.99/month, up from $10.99.
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Unlike Netflix, where customers are no strangers to a frequent price increase, fee increases don’t come as often for YouTube Premium members. The last time Google raised its subscription prices was back in 2023, when individual plans went from $11.99 to $13.99, with the family plan rising to $22.99 the year before. It’s safe to say that existing members are pretty frustrated with this move, but it’s the vagueness on Google’s behalf that seems to bother them the most.
First, it took Google a while to talk about the change (the company provided a statement to Variety), leaving subscribers to find out for themselves via email. However, not everyone was informed and those who received the emails are still scratching their heads – why is Google raising these prices?
One user shared a screenshot of their email, which detailed the following: “To continue to provide great service and features, we’re raising your price to $20.99 per month. We don’t take these decisions lightly, but this update allows us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you see on YouTube.”
The thing is, users don’t fall for it.
No more YouTube premium from r/youtube
The main difference between YouTube Premium and a platform like Netflix is that the latter has a continuous output of original content and therefore has a valuable place to invest money generated from subscription fees. Another user pointed this out, arguing that YouTube doesn’t have original content on the scale of Netflix to invest in, as all of its hosted content is made by creators with YouTube channels, leading users to question where their money is actually going.
With this in mind, YouTube has also come under fire recently for its 90-second unskippable ads on its TV app. But despite the company’s comment against claims that they are conducting secret tests, the price increases give us good enough reason to believe that Google is trying to lure even more free users over to the dark side – but will it cost them the loyalty of longtime subscribers in the process?
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