YouTube is launching a more affordable subscription that lets you watch videos and podcasts without ads. However, this does not include music videos, but this likely won’t be a problem if you already have a different music subscription like Spotify.
YouTube Will Launch a More Affordable Premium Lite Plan
YouTube has been experimenting with a more affordable Premium Lite plan, and it seems that it’s finally ready to deploy it. According to a Bloomberg report, the video hosting platform will soon launch the cheaper plan in the U.S., Australia, Germany, and Thailand, and that it’s made for users who primarily consume content other than music videos.
“As part of our commitment to provide our users with more choice and flexibility, we’ve been testing a new YouTube Premium offering with most videos ad-free in several of our markets,” said a YouTube spokesperson. “We’re hoping to expand this offering to even more users in the future with our partner’s support.”
At the time of writing, YouTube Premium costs $13.99 monthly, but it lets you watch everything on the platform ad-free. You also get YouTube Music Premium, plus several other features, like downloading videos to your device and playing videos in the background, even when your screen is closed. These features are a few reasons why I still subscribe to YouTube Premium despite the price increases, but not everyone is willing to pay that much.
So, in a likely effort to get more subscribers, YouTube is launching the cheaper Lite Plan. It will still give you ad-free access to most YouTube content, but it’s reported that music videos on the platform will now have ads.
Aside from that, it seems that subscribers will also miss out on YouTube Music Premium. This won’t be an issue, though, as this tier is likely tailored for those who are already subscribed to other premium services like Spotify or Apple Music and can’t be bothered to switch to Google’s service.
The company hasn’t released pricing information on YouTube Premium Lite yet, but we hope that it at least matches (or is even more affordable than) YouTube Music Premium, which costs $10.99 a month. And even if this subscription tier loses out on experimental features YouTube Premium subscribers get, like improved audio and faster playback speed, we’re still more than happy to pay a lower monthly fee and not have to deal with dynamic ads when watching our favorite creators.
