Just like many other streaming services, YouTube has increased the prices of its Premium plan for individuals in the U.S. from $11.99 per month to $13.99 per month.
The price hike follows last year’s price bump in family plans in many countries. In the U.S. the family plan tariff went from $17.99 per month to $22.99 per month.
The individual plan change, first spotted by 9to5Google, is live on the YouTube Premium page. However, the company hasn’t made any official announcement regarding existing subscribers, who are paying a lower price.
With YouTube Premium, Google offers ad-free viewing, the ability to download videos, 1080p streaming of higher quality, the ability to resume videos from where you left off, and access to YouTube Music. The company also releases experimental features for Premium subscribers, such as the ability to change playback speed and a lock screen feature to avoid accidental touches.
Google is also hiking the price of the YouTube Music plan from $9.99 per month to $10.99 per month. This follows subscription price raises from Apple Music and Amazon Music, which also offer their streaming at the same price. Spotify’s individual plan still costs $9.99 per month.
Over the last few months, rival video services such as Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Peacock, have announced price hikes. While Netflix raised its prices last year, the company commenced a crackdown on password sharing, making users pay more or add an extra member to their plans.
YouTube is also trying to push more people towards its premium plans by taking actions like restricting ad-blockers. It also ran an experiment that briefly put 4K streaming behind a paywall.
Last November, YouTube said that it had more than 80 million subscribers across Music and Premium offerings. With Google’s earnings next week, the company is taking steps to increase paid users.
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