Some Users Will Have to Pay More for YouTube Premium Soon
If you’ve been a long-time subscriber to YouTube, you’ve likely been enjoying Premium benefits for a much cheaper price than what everyone else is paying. Unfortunately, it seems those times aere coming to an end, as the media company has confirmed that the remaining grandfathered plans will be updated to the full price.
Original YouTube Music Key Subscribers Are Seeing a Price Increase
As spotted by 9to5Google, a Redditor received an email about an early adopters price increase. If this sounds familiar, it’s because YouTube upped the pricing for everyone who subcribed during the YouTube Music years in January. However, people who subscribed to YouTube Music Key back in 2014 kept the grandfathered $7.99 price for their Premium subscription, which is now increasing to full price.
In a quote to The Verge, a YouTube representative confirmed that the price increase will affect specific countries with a grace period:
We’re updating the price for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium for new and current subscribers in Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Uruguay, and Turkey.
Members who signed up originally via Google Play and received early adopter pricing will get three additional months at their current price.
You may have spotted that some countries were missing from the list, such as the US. In fact, legacy users in the US have not received an email concerning the price increase. However, we can’t imagine that YouTube will continue to honor the grandfathered price for long, as the company tends to roll out price changes gradually across regions.
While we’re unsure as to when the US will see the price hike, now is a good time to re-consider if YouTube Premium is worth the cost.
