Subscribers of YouTube Premium’s Family Plan will have to pay an additional $5 for their subscription after the video-streaming platform upgraded the monthly fee by 28% to $22.99.
YouTube made the announcement in an email to subscribers of the family tier in the US. The change has taken effect immediately for new subscribers, while existing customers were given a 30-day notice.
The email to subscribers read:
We created YouTube Premium to provide an uninterrupted YouTube experience, so you can get closer to the videos, creators, and music artists that you love. To continue delivering great service and features, we will be increasing your Premium family plan price from $17.99/month to $22.99/month.
This change will take place on your next billing cycle starting on or after November 21, 2022. To check the status of your account and billing information, go to your Settings > Purchases and Memberships page. All members have the flexibility to pause or cancel anytime here.
Reports say similar price changes are being rolled out in other markets like Canada where prices were increased to CAD $22.99 ($16.82) from CAD $17.99, and in the UK where prices were hiked to £19.99 ($22.64) per month from £17.99.
With YouTube Premium, subscribers are able to watch videos on YouTube without ads and download videos and playlists on their mobile device to watch offline.
Paying subscribers are also able to continue playing videos on their mobile devices while using other apps or when the screen is off, which is ideal for users that stream music on YouTube.
They can also get access to YouTube Music Premium, and listen to music on Google Home or Chromecast Audio.
For the YouTube Premium Family Plan, users can share a membership with up to five other family members who live in the same residential address.
The plan requires one primary account holder to serve as the family manager. The other family members can use their own Google account to access a shared YouTube paid membership. Family groups share access to YouTube Premium, YouTube Music Premium and other Google services.
Spotify’s family tier, where up to six family members can access Premium account features, costs $15.99 a month in the US.
For Apple Music, the family plan costs $19.95 per month.
Over a month ago, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen, said the company aims to overtake Spotify as the music rights industry’s biggest partner by 2025.
“That’s why YouTube is monetizing all music formats (short & long form video, audio tracks, Live, etc.), on all platforms (desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV), in over 100 countries. And overall watch time of music content on YouTube across desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV continues to grow year over year,” Cohen said in a blog post in September.
Customers can air out their grievances about the YouTube Premium Family Plan price change in a dedicated feedback page that Google has created.
The company has explicitly said that “you will not receive a response” to your feedback, “but we do monitor all feedback and your opinions will be heard.”Music Business Worldwide
