The latest streaming service price increases are coming to YouTube Premium subscribers in parts of the EU, Middle East and South America.

Users around the world on Reddit have been reporting emails from YouTube over the last few days announcing price hikes coming in October and November, in some cases as much as 40%! One user has compiled a list of all of the reported countries seeing price increases, as well as the amounts before and after on individual and family accounts. Many countries, including the US, saw price jumps just months ago.

YouTube Premium increases in over 10 countries! Family Plan hits nearly 40 USD in one of them!
byu/thisTja inyoutubepremium

Those paying through the App app are also seeing price increases. Remember, YouTube Premium and other subcription services are often priced up when purchased through the Apple App Store, so be sure to only subscribe through youtube.com/premium for the best available rates.

Many frustrated users complaining through the comments on Reddit are claiming to cancel their subscriptions after this latest round of price hikes. The question for YouTube is, will they make more money from increased subscriptions than the loss of those unsubscribing?

Some users have been recently seeing a Premium Lite option with a “beta” tag. The Premium Lite subscription features “limited ads”, rather than “ad-free” as on Premium, dropping additional features like YouTube Music, offline play and background listening. Premium Lite started testing in 2021 in select countries, but was discontinued last year. I know personally, Lite is an option that interests me, as someone that doesn’t want the other features, like music streaming. But perhaps YouTube is reluctant to rollout worldwide, as they want to push more users into the full Premium service.

So… pay and still get ads? Premium Lite (Beta)
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YouTube Premium is just the latest streaming service seeing price increases, after the last couple of years has seen similar hikes from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer, and video services like Disney Plus, Max and Paramount Plus.

The upside to YouTube Premium subscriptions increases, is that this will push more money to creators and musicians. Start earning money from your music on YouTube and YouTube Music by uploading for free with RouteNote.