YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium is a subscription service offered by the video platform. It provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming produced in collaboration with the site’s creators. The service was originally launched in November 2014 as Music Key, offering only advertisement-free streaming of music videos from participating labels. YouTube announced the rebranding of the service as YouTube Premium on May 17, 2018.

About YouTube Premium in brief

Summary YouTube PremiumYouTube Premium is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. It provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming produced in collaboration with the site’s creators. The service was originally launched in November 2014 as Music Key, offering only advertisement-free streaming of music videos from participating labels on YouTube and Google Play Music. YouTube announced the rebranding of the service as YouTube Premium on May 17, 2018, alongside the return of a separate, YouTube Music subscription service. By July 2019, the services were available in at least 60 countries and territories with a price of US$11.99 per month for new subscribers, and US$9.99 for existing subscribers. YouTube Premium also offers exclusive content that is exclusive to subscribers, including the dedicated YouTube Music apps, YouTube Gaming, YouTube Kids apps, and YouTube Music on Android and Oreo devices.

It is not the company’s first foray into premium content, having launched film rentals in 2010, and premium, subscription-based channels in 2013. The price of the subscription service has not yet been announced, but is expected to rise to US$10 per month by the end of the first quarter of 2019. The company has not commented on plans to make some of the original content associated with the service available on an ad-supported basis, however it has said that the service will be available on a free-to-play basis for the foreseeable future. It was previously reported that YouTube was planning to offer some of its original content on a pay-per-view basis, but this has since been denied by the company. It has also been reported that the company is planning to make its Originals content available in a paid-for format.