YouTube, Google’s video streaming platform, has achieved a milestone by surpassing 100 million paid subscribers across its YouTube Music and YouTube Premium services.
This marks a notable increase from the 80 million paid users reported in November 2022, signifying over 20 million new subscriptions in the past year.
The journey began in 2015 with the launch of YouTube Music, accompanied by a $9.99 per month Red subscription offering ad-free viewing and access to Play Music. In 2018, the Red subscription was rebranded as YouTube Premium.
Adam Smith, YouTube’s Vice President of Product Management, shared the development in a blog post, expressing delight and humility.
He highlighted the platform’s evolution, learning experiences, and expansions in offerings, making YouTube Music and Premium available in over 100 countries and regions.
Over the past year, YouTube has enhanced the Premium playback experience, introducing features like the ability to seamlessly continue watching across different devices, an enhanced 1080p HD version, and experimenting with new generative AI features. Premium users were among the first to try these innovations. For music enthusiasts, YouTube introduced the Samples tab, a personalized radio-building experience, and incorporated podcasts into YouTube Music.
The success of YouTube’s subscription business, including paid plans, is reflected in Google’s Q4 2023 earnings. Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, revealed during the earnings call that Google’s subscription business, which encompasses YouTube’s paid services, has exceeded $15 billion annually. In the same quarter, YouTube contributed significantly to Google’s revenue, generating $9.2 billion, up from $8 billion during the corresponding period the previous year.
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