YouTube is a staple in my life. I think I use it every single day. It’s no surprise, since it is by far, the biggest video-sharing platform that is available and there’s nothing that comes even close to a similar level of dominance in the space. It’s why you either put up with the company’s ads or you get YouTube Premium.
YouTube has always wanted people to go for Premium. It explains why its anti-ad-blocking techniques have gotten increasingly clandestine and even video is getting more and more ads. Unfortunately, getting people to switch to Premium isn’t going to get any easier when its prices are increasing globally.
YouTube Premium Is Having Its Prices Hiked Across The World, By A Lot
We live in a time where it seems as if every digital subscription-based service that you can think of is going through price hikes. Of course, this doesn’t help the consumers, who now find themselves paying for a handful of services that are getting more and more expensive. Unfortunately, the latest on this list of further-inflated subscriptions is YouTube Premium.
YouTube Premium isn’t new to having its price increased. In fact, it was less than a year ago that the company last pumped up how much you’ll need to pay to escape from ads and get the full YouTube Music experience. Depending on where you live, the actual percentage by which the price goes up differs, but in essentially all cases, it is a very substantial increase — it doesn’t matter whether you’re on an individual or family plan.
For instance, in several European countries such as Italy and Ireland, a YouTube Premium family plan is going to leave its €18 pricing and push way up to €26. That’s an unprecedented 44% increase. The same plan is Switzerland is going up by Swiss Francs to 34 CHF; a 42% jump. Sweden is seeing a 56% price hike. Quite frankly, that is absolutely ridiculous.
These price hikes aren’t even relegated to Europe, as Asian countries are also expected to have their prices increased in a similar fashion.
The New Prices Won’t Come Into Effect Until November, Giving You The Chance To Save Up Or Say Bye
The only fortunate thing is that you still get the whole of October to enjoy the old prices. However, once November comes around, the new prices are going to take effect and YouTube Premium is going to cost a whole lot more for millions of people.
YouTube Wants More People To Subscribe To YouTube Premium, But This Does The Opposite Of That
I’m wondering what might be going on with the folks at YouTube HQ. We’ve come to expect the prices of digital services to increase periodically through those services’ lifetimes, but they are never as aggressive as this. It’s a very confusing decision for Google to make.
If you subscribe to YouTube Premium primarily to gain full access to YouTube Music, it makes it the most expensive place to go for that. Instead, you’d be better off changing to Apple Music or Spotify.
However, on the video side of things, there are simply no comparable options, and people who are used to Premium already will have a very hard time dealing with incessant ads again. However, those already dealing with ads, will be even less likely to give Premium a try — not at those baffling rates, at least.
