If you’ve been watching uninterrupted YouTube videos for a while, it can be jarring to watch YouTube with ads. I know this is the case for me whenever I open YouTube with one of my other accounts that doesn’t have YouTube Premium. You get used to the ad-free experience and if you watch a lot of YouTube like me, it’s a subscription that would be hard to give up. But prices are going up, for everyone this time, at least in the US. For all the legacy users out there who were grandfathered by Google Play Music and/or YouTube Red, what you pay each month is about to change. So the question is: are you going to stick around or cancel?
For new subscribers who might sign up for YouTube Premium today, the service costs $13.99 per month. When Google announced that they were increasing the price back in July they said those who joined YouTube Premium before the price hike were locked into a lower rate of $9.99 through December. They said this special pricing was a nod to their loyalty and early support for the platform.
According to a recent email dug up from the folks over at 9to5Google, YouTube has decided to end legacy pricing. Starting January 2024, even the early birds will have to pay the current subscription rate of $13.99 per month.
We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.
This move by YouTube is not isolated. Other streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ have also steadily increased their subscription fees over time. It seems to be a natural progression in the streaming industry, where content costs and platform development are slowly driving up the cost to the consumer.
I get it, we are streaming more content than ever before and I know there are costs associated with providing this content, but at what point does it become unfeasible for many households? I have been subscribed to ad-free YouTube since 2015 and I know that it would be the last to go for me – ad-free, background play, and offline videos are features that I use and don’t want to go away. What about you – are you sticking around or are you going to cancel? Let us know over on X or in the comments below.
