YouTube is launching a less expensive tier of its “Premium” subscription service in the U.S., as the Google-owned video platform says that it now has more than 125 million subscribers to its YouTube Premium and YouTube Music services.
The company announced the updates Wednesday.
The new tier is called Premium Lite, and will cost $7.99 per month (compared to $13.99 per month for Premium). It will allow subscribers to watch “most videos” on YouTube ad-free, with a particular emphasis on genres like gaming, fashion, news, and beauty creators. Music content and Shorts will be where users see the most ads.
The company had been testing Premium Lite in a handful of countries, but is now rolling it out to the U.S.
At the same time, Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, revealed that YouTube Premium and YouTube Music have a combined 125 million subscribers: “An incredible milestone that many laughed off as impossible when we first launched,” he wrote in his annual letter, released Wednesday. “This momentum is critical to our goal of becoming the No. 1 contributor of revenue to the industry, and we won’t stop until we get there. This momentum is critical to our goal of becoming the No. 1 contributor of revenue to the industry, and we won’t stop until we get there.”
YouTube announced that it had hit 100 million Premium and Music subscribers a year ago. It also revealed that its YouTube TV service passed 8 million subscribers.
The new less expensive Premium tier is likely to further drive total subscribers.
Cohen also used his letter to tease what he sees coming, including increased use of AI tools, and what he calls “the rebirth of the music video.”
To hear Cohen explain it, YouTube is the new MTV, the place where culture-defining artists drop their latest work, or where new artists can be discovered.
“As I look forward, I’m foreseeing a renaissance of the music video,” he wrote. “It’s not about having the biggest production budget; it’s about sharing authentic hero content that music fans can’t unsee. It’s about using the artist’s most influential asset – the music video – and cutting through the tidal wave of clutter and choice. Think about the iconic music videos that have shaped our culture. These weren’t simply videos; they were cultural moments. And they didn’t just break songs – they broke artists.”
