YouTube has raised the price for YouTube Premium, its subscription service for ad-free viewing, and YouTube Music Premium for new and current subscribers in the U.S.
The new price of an individual YouTube Premium plan is $13.99 per month (up from $11.99 previously) while YouTube Premium Music subscribers will pay $10.99 per month (up from $9.99). Members who subscribed five ore more years ago, including those who signed up originally via Google Play, will get three additional months at their current price.
It’s the first price increase for U.S. subscribers since the Google-owned video platform launched YouTube Premium in 2018 (which was the successor to the YouTube Red subscription service that debuted in 2015 at $9.99 monthly).
With the price increase on YouTube Music to $10.99/month, the streaming service is priced on par with Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited (for non-Prime members) after fee hikes by those providers. Spotify’s individual plan remains $9.99/month in the U.S., although CEO Daniel Ek has said the company is considering raising rates as well.
Popular on Variety
“We’re updating the price for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers in the U.S. to continue delivering great service and features,” a YouTube rep said in a statement. “We believe this new price reflects the value of YouTube Premium which allows subscribers to enjoy ad-free YouTube with background and offline play and uninterrupted access to over 100 million songs with the YouTube Music app.”
YouTube Premium provides ad-free video viewing; the ability to save videos and playlists on mobile devices and play them offline; and the ability to keep videos playing when using other apps or when your screen is off. The YouTube Music Premium plan provides the same benefits but is limited to music content.
The price hikes for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music come after the video giant in March 2023 increased the price of YouTube TV, its internet pay-TV package in the U.S., by $8, to $73 per month.
