YouTube Premium just hiked prices on its most loyal subscribers

Key Takeaways

Early adopters of YouTube Music in Europe are getting notified of a price hike.
U.S. subscribers still on an old legacy rate from 2014’s Music Key may soon be getting notified also.
In December 2023, YouTube Premium’s monthly subscription rate went up to $13.99 a month.

YouTube Premium is a handy service if you enjoy watching videos ad-free and listening to tunes on YouTube Music. If you’ve been using the service for a long time and have a special subscription rate dating possibly back to 2014, it could now be in jeopardy.

YouTube has begun to notify early adopters of YouTube Music in Europe about an upcoming price hike (via TheVerge). So if you’ve been paying a special lower rate, you’ll soon see a price hike to €10.99 a month, the current standard price for the Music Premium plan. YouTube is giving notified users a three-month grace period before the new hike goes into effect, meaning they’ll have until early next year on the old rate still.

Some legacy subscribers in the U.S. who had YouTube Music Key subscriptions from 2014 that turned into YouTube Premium have yet to receive any price hike emails, but if YouTube is doing this price hike region by region, it could be coming soon.

YouTube Premium

What’s included?: YouTube and YouTube Music add-free and in the background
Price: $14 a month
Live TV: No

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A history of price hikes

Streaming services don’t like to stay the same price for long

YouTube Premium has had price hikes before in the past, and this surely won’t be the last time either. In December 2023, users who had Google Play Music or YouTube Red subscriptions, that turned into YouTube Premium, lost their special subscription rate and had to start paying the $13.99 monthly fee for YouTube Premium in the new year.

The users in Europe receiving these price-hike emails are old subscribers of Google’s past services like Google Play Music, or YouTube Music Key. Back in 2014, early subscribers to YouTube’s Music Key were able to get it for $7.99 a month, with international users paying a similar rate. When YouTube Premium launched in 2018, these lucky users were upgraded to full YouTube Premium while sticking to their $7.99 rate. At the time, YouTube Music cost $9.99 a month, and YouTube Premium cost $11.99 a month. Oh, how times have changed.

In 2023, YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium got a price increase, making their monthly rates $11.99 and $13.99 a month respectively. So if you’re still on a $7.99 rate, or a similar rate internationally, hold it close. YouTube might be emailing you soon.