YouTube Premium Quietly Hikes Subscription Prices in the US [Updated]

[b76302]

I received the e-mail, but nothing about 3 months at my current price. I subscribed late last year paying month to month at $11.99. Here is the e-mail I received:

YouTube Premium Individual plan price update

Hi *********,

Thank you for being a YouTube Premium member. We hope you are enjoying your YouTube Premium benefits, including ad-free and downloadable videos, background play, and uninterrupted access to over 100 million songs with the YouTube Music app.

To continue delivering great service and features, we’re increasing your price to $13.99/month. We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.

You will see the change reflected in your next billing date on August 30, 2023.

While we hope that you continue to be a member, you can cancel your subscription at any time here. To check the status of your account and billing information, go to your Settings > Purchases and Memberships page.

You can find more information on the latest updates in the YouTube Help Center.

Thanks for being a YouTube Premium member.

Sincerely,
The YouTube Premium team

 

[burgman]

It can be done to an extent. Short of going to live in the woods and living off the land - impossible for most of us, me included - it’s not that hard to reduce your dependancy on tech. Most of use phones far, far more than is necessary, as I did until a few years ago.

I wanted back to a time pre smartphone, post internet, when I did browse the net, but when I chose to sit down in front of a computer/iPad for a while in the evening or something i.e. not every waking moment.

For a while I seriously considered going back to a dumbphone. Never done Twitter, Instagram, FaceBook blah blah, closest I get to social media is one WhatsApp group chat with close family. Problem was, I still needed/wanted music & audiobooks, maps, a camera (though I could live without), and (grudgingly) WhatsApp (UK here, everyone uses WhatsApp whether I like it or not). I was faced with multiple devices (dumbphone + iPod Touch or equivalent, maybe a camera too), no WhatsApp and no realistic maps solution (iPod Touch would be poor at that, tethered). As such, the “simplification” I wanted was anything but!

Anyway, got a 13 Mini, I think of it has a massively souped up iPod Touch. It’s permanently in low power mode, I use it strictly as tool, and an audio entertainment device only. The camera and Apple Pay are a bonus. Never dips below 40%, in fact usually I've about 60%+ left if I'm not working where it's sometimes a necessity.

It’s great, I’ve completely shook off that “use phone in every quiet moment” and for the last couple of years I’ve been a lot less annoyed at all the madness and infuriating issues that are completely and utterly beyond my control, and feel a lot more serene. I chuckle a little in sympathy when I see almost everyone I know get so agitated at…everything, I want to say to them “there is a solution!” but personally I feel like you have to come to this realisation yourself without being preached to - I'm not proselytising, merely saying what worked for me.

Bonus, my attention span has returned somewhat to pre smartphone days and I read a lot more books, the general criteria for which is "books that have stood the test of time" be they fiction or non-fiction.

In the WWDC keynote, Apple stressing the importance of mental health, then proceeding to pimp the Vision Pro made me shake my head tbh. More screens is the LAST thing people need outside of necessary work usage.

All the tech I own has an off switch so the addiction problem isn’t the tech

 

[WannaGoMac]

I lived in “Argentina” for a while; I’m now in “Turkey”, it’s a cheaper country in YouTubeland 😂

When google caught you did they kill your account?

 

[RickDEGH]

When google caught you did they kill your account?

Caught me? 😂 As long as they take my money each month I’m not doing anything wrong, am I? And no, my account hasn’t been killed.

 

[AlbinoAlexC]

Change it from Mexico to the Philippines. I wasn't able to get Argentina or India to work either, but for the Philippines I'm currently paying around $3-4 CAD

I did it by physically going to Mexico and signing up locally, so it would be forced to give me Mexican pricing since it was Mexican Wi-Fi. The VPN tricks never worked for me no matter what country I tried, sadly.

 

[Jay Tee]

Thanks for reminding me to unsubscribe from within iOS and subscribe directly from my Google account. Sorry but not giving Apple 5 extra bucks it did nothing to earn.

Why are people downvoting this ?

 

[rm5]

Never paying YouTube for anything. YouTube TV is already $75/month or however much, and now YouTube Premium went up. It's not worth it!