Google’s video streaming platform, YouTube, said it has now crossed 100 million paid users across YouTube Music and YouTube Premium.
This shows that the platform recorded over 20 million new subscriptions last year as it had earlier reported 80 million paid users in November 2022.
Google first launched YouTube Music in 2015 and at that time, YouTube offered a $9.99 per month Red subscription for ad-free viewing that also allowed users to access Play Music. In 2018, the Red subscription was rebranded to YouTube Premium.
The announcement
Sharing the development via blog post, YouTube’s Vice President of Product Management, Adam Smith, said:
- “Today, we’re delighted and humbled to share that YouTube Music and Premium has crossed 100M subscribers, including trials.
- “In 2015, we believed that there was an appetite for a YouTube experience that benefited not only our users, but the creator and artist community as well, and we announced a new subscription service alongside a brand new app, YouTube Music.
- “This offering was designed for music lovers and YouTube fans who wanted more choice in how they spent time on YouTube, allowing them to enjoy YouTube without interruptions, background play, and downloads, and a full music service with the world’s largest catalog. Along the way, we learned a lot, made a few pivots (and even rebranded), expanded our offerings and plans, and made YouTube Music and Premium available in over 100 countries and regions.”
In the past year, YouTube enhanced the Premium playback experience including adding the ability to continue watching YouTube across different devices like smart TVs and tablets, and introduced an enhanced version of 1080p HD. The company also experimented with new generative AI features that Premium users were among the first to try. And for listeners, it introduced the Samples tab, a lightning-fast way to discover new music, a completely customized radio-building experience , and brought podcasts to YouTube Music.
Contributions to Google’s revenue
Earlier this week, during its Q4 2023 earnings call, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai said that Google’s subscription business, which includes YouTube’s paid plans, has now crossed $15 billion annually.
YouTube, a big part of Google’s business generated $9.2 billion in Q4 2023, up from $8 billion for the same period last year.
