Does YouTube Premium offer value? See everything the membership plan has to offer and decide if you want to subscribe to YouTube Premium.

It might be confusing trying to decide which applications, services, and streaming platforms are best for you with so many options available. And using the newest YouTube products provides a similar challenge. More than 350 hours of film are posted every minute to the Google video hosting website, which was introduced seventeen years ago. However, the service’s recent expansions in an effort to increase income have complicated matters somewhat.

Launches of YouTube Music, YouTube TV, the now-defunct YouTube Go, and YouTube Premium—the one you’ve undoubtedly heard of most recently—have all taken place in the last several years. YouTube Premium membership could be for you if you enjoy watching material on YouTube but detest having to wait through advertisements or if you find it annoying because YouTube videos pause when you open another app or lock your phone’s screen.

What is YouTube Premium?

YouTube Premium is a subscription-based service (it debuted as “Music Key” in 2014 and, as with many Google services, was eventually rebranded to YouTube Red before arriving at its current name) that adds several features to the basic YouTube experience.

In 2014, YouTube Premium made its debut under the name “Music Key.” It was then renamed as YouTube Red before taking on its present moniker. YouTube Premium enhances the standard YouTube experience with a number of features. Even while using other apps, a YouTube Premium membership gives you the option to listen to YouTube videos in the background, and grants access to YouTube Music, the company’s music streaming service, without ads, even while the screen is closed.

How much does YouTube Premium cost?

Your initial thought probably was, “Okay, what will it cost me?” given that the great bulk of YouTube videos is free. Unfortunately, it’s now a touch more costly than it was at its debut due to a recent announcement of a price hike.

After a one-month free trial, an individual plan continues to cost $11.99 per month. The yearly package is $119.99 if you’re certain about the service and want to commit for a full year. You will get two months’ worth of savings for making an advance payment.

There are two more options for families and students as well, although YouTube warned its users in October 2022 that the cost of a family plan will rise beginning with the first billing cycle on or after November 21, 2022.

The monthly cost of YouTube Premium’s Family Plan is $17.99. Up to five additional household members may be added, for a total of six, and each must be at least 13 years old in order to be eligible for the same benefits. These folks must reside at the same address as you, in accordance with YouTube’s rules.

Additionally, students can sign up for YouTube Premium. The cost of the Student YouTube Premium plan is $6.99 per month if you are a student and can produce documentation (needed every year).

It’s worth mentioning that YouTube Originals are ad-free and free to watch for Premium users. Non-Premium subscribers, on the other hand, may still watch YouTube Originals for free with advertisements.

What do you get with YouTube Premium?

As mentioned, YouTube Premium comes with a slew of benefits. We’ll run them down to simplify things for you.

Ad-free viewing

The most appealing feature of YouTube Premium is that it removes ads from all YouTube videos. While there are alternative methods to prevent advertisements on YouTube, they are not officially sanctioned and deny producers of cash. Furthermore, the lack of commercials extends to all devices, so you won’t see ads whether you watch on smart TV applications, gaming consoles, your phone, or something similar.

It turns out that one of the factors behind YouTube Premium is the ubiquity of ad blocking. Although YouTube has long been the king of free videos, hosting and streaming those films is expensive. If users continue to reject ads, YouTube will have to look for new sources of income.

YouTube Originals

Access to YouTube Originals, a selection of premium programs produced by YouTube, was once one of the service’s main benefits. YouTube Originals is no longer active, and no new material will be released under that banner. The YouTube Originals channel, on the other hand, has more than 6.7 million subscribers and a slew of series and other content.

However, YouTube made the majority of YouTube Originals available to everyone after discontinuing them in early 2022. YouTube Originals material is now available to free viewers with advertising, just like any other video. According to our observations, the bulk of Originals programming is accessible to anyone, despite the company’s imprecise statement that “only certain episodes may be available for streaming at a given moment.”

Background play on mobile

If you have a YouTube Premium membership, videos will keep playing even if you lock your phone or move to another app. If you want to listen to a song but can’t locate it on any other platform, you may use this function to listen to podcasts and other similar content. Both the YouTube Music app and the YouTube app support it, and it applies everywhere you use YouTube.

Downloads/ offline viewing

You may download videos from YouTube Premium to your iPhone or Android device to watch them offline. If you have a restricted data plan, this is perfect for watching videos on the go. You can also use it to watch videos offline, such as on a plane.

Things to consider

 YouTube Premium is not YouTube TV

YouTube’s paid services have similar names, so it’s easy to mix them up. We’ve noted that YouTube Premium includes YouTube Music Premium, as well fact that you can sign up for YouTube Music Premium separately from YouTube Premium.

However, you should know that both of these services are different from YouTube TV. YouTube TV is a TV streaming service that allows you to watch live TV channels. It includes DVR and similar features associated with TV streaming and Paying for YouTube Premium does not give access to YouTube TV, and YouTube TV does not include YouTube Premium benefits. However, those who subscribe to YouTube TV do get full access to YouTube Originals, as discussed above.

There’s one other YouTube subscription separate from Premium: channel memberships. These allow you to directly support a channel and gain a few benefits in the process. However, YouTube channel membership benefits do not include removing ads on a channel.

YouTube Premium Isn’t Necessary

YouTube Premium has been around for years, and it hasn’t really changed anything about the way YouTube works. If you aren’t interested in paying, you can still enjoy videos from your favorite channels as usual.

The top benefit of YouTube Premium is certainly removing all the ads. If you watch YouTube regularly, it could be worth the cost for this reason alone. You might also be interested in signing up for one month and then canceling if you want to catch up on your Watch Later list offline during a trip or flight. And as mentioned, getting YouTube Music Premium is a nice deal if you don’t already use a premium music service.

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Is YouTube Premium worth it?

You don’t need Premium if advertising doesn’t annoy you. Premium is not necessary unless you have a strong desire to explore the YouTube Originals library. Additionally, you won’t benefit from all of the Premium features if you don’t frequently use YouTube’s mobile applications.

However, if you often use YouTube, have favorite artists, and want to see as much original material as you can, the monthly fee can be worthwhile. After all, it’s comparable to the majority of conventional streaming providers.