YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are a bit more expensive than before.
YouTube recently changed the pricing of its YouTube Premium and YouTube music subscription prices, quieting raising them by a few dollars for an unknown reason.
YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are the latest subscription services to have raised their prices, following NBCUniversal's move to raise the price of its Peacock streaming service.
Youtube Premium 21 January 2022, Berlin: On the screen of a smartphone, the app sees YouTube Premium. Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa (Photo by Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images)
YouTube Premium, Music Price Increases
Google's signup page for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music looks different than before. According to The Verge, Google quietly raised the former subscription service's subscription price by $2, giving it a new price tag of $13.99 a month in the US.
The search giant, which is YouTube's parent company, also did the same to YouTube Music. While it could be bundled with YouTube Premium or as a standalone subscription, the price for the latter option quietly increased by a dollar - a similar hike to the ones done to Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal.
As a result, YouTube Music now costs $10.99 a month.
Since Google or YouTube didn't officially announce the price increases, it is unclear if existing subscribers for both services will see their bills increase or not, per 9to5Google. There is enough precedence to believe that the latter occuring is more likely, though.
This precedence happened when Google rebranded YouTube Red to YouTube Premium in 2018. Back then, it allowed former YouTube Red subscribers to continue to pay the old $9.99 monthly fee instead of the new $11.99. Interestingly, YouTube is still honoring this lower price on former YouTube Red subscribers even after five years, according to a statement from 9to5Google's Abner Li.
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However, existing YouTube Premium and Music subscribers could see the new prices reflected on their bill when their monthly or annual memberships are up for renewal, per Macrumors.
Despite these increases, YouTube Premium's 1-month free trial offer is still up for grabs for new subscribers.
The changes to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music's prices seem to be isolated to the US only as of press time. The prices of the two subscription services in the UK and elsewhere appear unchanged as of press time.
An Inevitable Fate
Google's decision to slightly increase the prices of its YouTueb Premium and YouTube Music subscription service seems to be an inevitability given that other companies offering the same services have also done the same.
You may recall that NBCUniversal had announced it is raising both of Peacock's streaming plans by the same amount in mid-August, making its Premium and Premium Plus plans cost $5.99 ($1 increase) and $11.99 ($2 increase), respectively.
Regardless, YouTube's move reinforces the idea that the video streaming industry is experiencing an end of an era when companies are willing to ask for low prices for their streaming services to attract subscribers on launch. Companies hosting streaming services need to raise their prices or embrace advertising if they want to meet investors' expectations.
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