Photo Credit: Christian Wiediger
YouTube becomes the latest subscription streaming service to hike prices in the US, with both YouTube Premium and ad-free YouTube Music affected.
Look out, YouTube subscribers—the streamflation is coming for you, too. Both services—YouTube Premium and ad-free YouTube Music plans—are hiking prices in the U.S., riding the wave of streaming services to have increased their fees over the last few months.
YouTube Premium offers ad-free viewing, background listening, and offline video downloads, as well as access to YouTube Music. YouTube Music plans give you ad-free listening on YouTube Music, but without the perks available on YouTube.
YouTube Premium’s individual plan is increasing from $13.99 to $15.99 a month, while the family plan, which includes up to six accounts, is increasing from $22.99 to $26.99 a month. YouTube Music’s individual plan is increasing from $10.99 to $11.99 a month; the family plan is increasing from $16.99 to $18.99 a month.
Meanwhile, YouTube Premium Lite is increasing prices from $7.99 to $8.99 a month. This plan enables ad-free video viewing on YouTube, but does not include songs or music videos. It also doesn’t allow users to download videos for offline viewing or play videos in the background.
New customers will see the updated pricing immediately, while existing customers will see the new pricing in their next billing cycle starting in June.
“We’re updating the price for YouTube Premium plans in the U.S. for the first time since 2023 to continue delivering a high-quality experience that supports creators and artists on YouTube,” said a YouTube spokesperson. “This change allows us to maintain the features our members value most: ad-free viewing, background play, and a massive library of 300M+ tracks on YouTube Music.”
YouTube is just the latest streaming service to have upped its prices. Spotify raised U.S. prices earlier this year, while video streamers like Disney+ and Hulu, HBO Max, and Peacock all increased prices last year. Netflix rolled out a price increase last month, while Paramount+ and Amazon’s Prime Video tier also recently hiked their prices.
Needless to say, customers aren’t happy about it. On Reddit, numerous users said they would be cancelling their YouTube subscriptions, while others said they had already cancelled during the last wave of price hikes.
“What’s the quickest way to make an extra $300M without doing shit? Raise prices by $2-$3 on your base,” wrote one Redditor. “Greedy bastards.”
“Inflation must be really hitting that multi-billion dollar company hard,” quipped another. “They need our help to get by, since we’re doing much better than them in these trying times.”
“Does that mean that we now get lossless audio like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, and Amazon Music?” asked a third. “Probably not!”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.digitalmusicnews.com ’
