YouTube Premium is going up in South Africa. This morning, Google sent out an email to subscribers to inform them about a price hike which is expected to go into effect on 4 July. The price hike affects all tiers of YouTube Premium, including the Family, Music, and Individual plans.
YouTube Premium Family Plan is getting the biggest bump, while other plans are increasing by R10 to R15. YouTube says that the price increase is to help improve the YouTube Premium experience while also supporting creators with ad revenue, which is earned from watching videos while you have a subscription.
Here’s what you’ll pay for YouTube Premium starting in July:
- YouTube Music – R64,99 (was R59,99)
- YouTube Music Family – R99,99 (was R89,99)
- YouTube Premium Individual – R81,99 (was R71,99)
- YouTube Premium Family – R149,99 (was R109,99)
“We hope that 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,”
YouTube has been testing out new tiers of the Premium service in certain parts of the world. These tiers include a YouTube Music free option that excludes music from the service but still blocks ads while watching standard YouTube videos. This tier is expected to be cheaper than the existing plans, which bundle it all together. However, the company has yet to roll this service out globally.
Hopefully, when it does arrive, it will offer a more affordable option for users who want no ads but don’t make use of the YouTube Music section. I personally don’t touch the music at all.
