Prepare to pay more for a couple of Google's streaming options. According to 9to5Google, YouTube Premium — the add-on that, among other things, removes advertising on YouTube — is now $2 more expensive per month, coming in at $14. The annual subscription fee is also increasing by $20 to $140.
Meanwhile, the solo YouTube Music membership (which is free if you sign up for YouTube Premium) is increasing by a dollar to $11 per month. It now competes with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal. Spotify has now undercut them all by one dollar.
If there's any good news here, it's that the price of a family subscription to YouTube Premium will not be raised again. On the other side, it will rise by $5 in October 2022 to $23 per month. That price increase was justified at the time as "allowing us to develop even more Premium features and continue to support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube
There's also the reality that a full one-month free trial of YouTube Premium is still available. This allows you to test the ad-free experience, as well as play videos in the background and save them for offline viewing. And, for those who use YouTube on iOS, there's still the extra bonus of 1080p videos at a greater bitrate than previously.
But, in reality, YouTube Premium is all about getting rid of advertisements. That, along with the inclusion of YouTube Music, is why most people will look into it. However, it is the latest in a long line of streaming pricing rises. So now is a good time to look over your spending and determine if it's time to make some cuts.