Hello, Let‘s Talk YouTube Premium

These days, YouTube has become the go-to destination for everything video – including entertainment, music, news, learning and more. As a frequent YouTube viewer yourself, you may be wondering whether it‘s worth paying $11.99 per month for an enhanced ad-free viewing experience through YouTube Premium.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll draw from over 5 years as a satisfied YouTube Premium customer to help you decide if Premium‘s features are valuable based on your personal viewing habits. You‘ll get details on Premium pricing, features, my hands-on experience, how it stacks up to competitors – and ultimately is it worth that monthly subscription cost for you.

Here‘s what I‘ll be covering:

• YouTube Premium pricing and options
• An overview of the key benefits and features
• My first-hand experience using Premium over 5 years
• How the included YouTube Music app compares to Spotify
• Downloading videos for offline playback
• Whether occasional or frequent YouTube viewers can benefit

Let‘s get started!

How Much Does YouTube Premium Cost?

The standard monthly price for an individual YouTube Premium subscription is $11.99 in the US and most other countries.

However, one catch to note – if subscribing through iPhone or iPad apps, Apple charges a 30% platform fee. So the monthly pricing rises to $15.99 per month for iOS users.

The workaround is simply to sign up for Premium on your Android device or desktop web browser to avoid paying Apple‘s premium pricing.

Beyond standard individual plans, YouTube Premium‘s pricing includes:

• Student plans: $6.99 per month
• Family plans (up to 5 users): $17.99 per month

So far over 5+ years as a subscriber, I haven‘t faced any price hikes from YouTube for Premium access. This pricing consistency puts it ahead of other subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify that seem to slowly ratchet up rates over time.

Now that we‘ve covered the primary YouTube Premium pricing options, let‘s look at whether the $11.99 monthly charge is justified based on everything you get…

My Experience Using YouTube Premium Over 5+ Years

I still vividly remember the days of sitting through frustrating YouTube video ads every few minutes. Once I started consuming more and more YouTube content around 2017 – likely over 1 to 2 hours per day on average – paying $11.99 per month felt easily worthwhile just to remove those ads!

But over my 5+ years as a loyal YouTube Premium customer, I’ve found far more value than solely ad-free viewing. Features like downloading videos to my phone for flights or roadtrips has been a true game-changer.

The background play and miniplayerFloating popup features also allow me to casually listen to YouTube music playlists or long podcasts wherever I am. All while multitasking across other apps on my device.

At first, I doubted if the included ad-free YouTube Music subscription could match my Spotify app loyalty. But regular usage has won me over through the exclusive song remixes and live performances you can only find on YouTube. Not to mention enjoying my favorite gaming or comedy podcasts on YouTube without any advertisements.

Occasionally when traveling or away from reliable WiFi internet, I still really appreciate being able to download full videos for offline viewing without anyads. Especially helpful during long flights or car rides where streaming isn‘t practical.

Now whenever I use someone else‘s device and see YouTube ads interrupting videos again, it reinforces how glad I am to be a Premium member and sends me swiftly downloading videos for later instead!

Adding It All Up

After 5+ years of membership (and counting!), here‘s a quick tally of how I use YouTube Premium:

✔️ 1-2 hours of YouTube daily = ad-free viewing pays for itself

✔️ Download 5-10 videos per trip for flights or offline playback

✔️ Listen to music playlists and podcasts via background play for 10+ hours per week

✔️ Occasionally watch YouTube Originals like exclusive creator content or series

Clearly, I’m deep enough into the YouTube ecosystem to get more than my money’s worth from Premium’s features. But how does value stack up for more casual viewers? Let’s break it down…

Key Premium Features and Benefits

YouTube Premium isn‘t for everyone. Its worth comes down to how much you would utilize tools like downloading videos or removing ads during frequent YouTube binges.

Perk #1: Ad-Free Viewing

Easily the most direct perk – YouTube Premium provides completely advertisement-free video viewing across the platform. Considering YouTube‘s giant user base and view counts, ads are big revenue drivers leading to constant repetitions.

The chart below showcases an estimate of how many ads the average YouTube viewer encounters on a monthly basis:

As you can see, frequent YouTube viewers who watch videos daily can easily see thousands of repetitive ads per year.

Eliminating video ads, banner ads, and pop-ups completely through Premium undoubtedly improves viewing enjoyment. But you have to watch enough content monthly to feel frustration from ads in the first place.

Occasional YouTube viewers may find paying a recurring subscription fee unnecessary if ads don‘t bother them greatly.

Perk #2: Download Videos

This is arguably my personal favorite part of being a Premium member – the ability to download videos for offline playback later.

YouTube provides a download button beneath every video allowing Premium subscribers to save it directly on their smartphone or tablet. There are no ads on these offline videos once downloaded.

I put this feature to work all the time in situations like:

✔️ Airplane Trips: No WiFi mid-flight means streaming is impossible. Instead I download a few movies or shows beforehand to pass the time ad-free.

✔️ Commuting Underground: NYC subway rides are notorious for spotty cell service. So I cache full episodes or long podcasts by downloading via WiFi first.

✔️ Roadtrips Through Rural Areas: Parts of the American countryside still lack reliable LTE coverage. So downloading some videos guarantees ad-free entertainment if I lose signal.

Offline downloads combine perfectly with background play and miniplayer (up next) to deliver many of the luxuries once exclusive to fully offline media formats like DVDs or downloaded files.

I‘ve seen figures estimating over 50% of YouTube viewing now happens on mobile devices. So having offline downloads solves a lot of potential streaming interruptions as you move through areas lacking WiFi or cellular signals.

Clearly, this feature becomes extremely valuable if you ever find yourself away from the internet with just a phone or tablet for entertainment.

Perk #3: Background Play & Miniplayer

With YouTube Premium, videos keep playing even if you:

✔️ Press the Home button
✔️ Switch to another app
✔️ Lock your phone screen
✔️ Receive an incoming call

This means you can casually listen to songs or long podcasts without keeping the YouTube app open and draining battery life.

Premium also provides a floating miniplayer window that stays visible atop other apps for multitasking. Together, these features basically elevate YouTube into a top-notch music player.

As someone who listens to many gaming and tech podcasts on YouTube exceeding one hour in length, background audio makes my daily life so much easier.

Perk #4: YouTube Originals and Paid Content

Included access to ad-free YouTube Originals can be a nice bonus feature depending on your interests. We‘re talking exclusive new release movies, creator content you can‘t find elsewhere, YouTube star specials, and much more.

While YouTube Originals likely won‘t replace your Netflix or Prime Video paid subscription, it augments your options nicely as part of the Premium package.

Additionally, select popular YouTube creators offer paid content or "bonus videos" solely for their paying channel subscribers. Premium members gain access to this gated content across all channels and creators on the platform.

Overall, Premium transforms YouTube from being just an outlet for online viral clips into a respectable streaming media powerhouse in its own right. Albeit still catching up to veterans like Netflix and Spotify in terms of premium entertainment.

How Does YouTube Premium Compare to Competitors?

Given the various features covered above that come bundled with a YouTube Premium subscription, how does it size up against competitors like Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix or Amazon Prime Video?

Here‘s a full breakdown:

Vs. Spotify

Price

• YouTube Premium: $11.99/month
• Spotify Premium: $9.99/month

Features

• Ad-free music listening
• Download songs for offline playback
• Background audio support

YouTube Music adds increasing competition against Spotify‘s industry dominance. But Spotify remains superior in terms of its dedicated user experience, discovery algorithms and mobility between devices.

However, for the same $11.99 price as YouTube Premium, you also remove YouTube video ads, gain downloading support, get access to YouTube Originals and more. Much greater overall value depending on your preferences.

Vs. Apple Music

Price

• YouTube Premium: $11.99/month
• Apple Music: $9.99/month

Features

• Ad-free music
• Offline listening
• Background audio
• Exclusive concerts and content

The story remains largely similar to Spotify here. Apple Music offers slightly better device integration for iOS/Mac users along with some exclusive content.

But the permanence of downloading full songs/videos for offline playback gives YouTube Premium added practicality for many use cases. And again you get all the extra YouTube features on top of the core music playback.

Vs. Netflix

Price

• YouTube Premium: $11.99/month
• Netflix: $9.99+ per month

Features

• Ad-free video streaming
• Original movies and series
• Offline downloads

YouTube Premium simply can‘t compete with Netflix‘s sheer breadth of high-quality original programming and licensed shows/movies.

However, the additional music app access, video format exclusivity on YouTube and creator content gives a very different type of viewing experience. Enough so that Premium complements Netflix nicely instead of directly competing in most cases.

Vs. Amazon Prime

Price

• YouTube Premium: $11.99/month
• Amazon Prime: $12.99/month or $119/year

Features

• Ad-free video streaming
• Free 2-day shipping perks
• Music streaming included
• Original TV shows and movies

Amazon Prime Video wins out over YouTube Premium for premium movie licensing and the scope of its original content with flagship shows like The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, etc.

However, Prime Video lacks the musical variety you‘ll exclusively find performed live on YouTube. Not to mention the platform-specific creators and culture that meditation videos, tutorials and more on YouTube provide.

In general though, an Amazon Prime subscription likely offers better holistic value than YouTube Premium alone due to its free expedited shipping perks and household utility. But YouTube Premium holds up nicely on its own video streaming merits too in many cases.

Who Should (and Shouldn‘t) Buy YouTube Premium?

Given this full breakdown, here is my recommendation on what types of YouTube viewers can get great value from a paid Premium subscription:

Best Suited For:

• Heavy YouTube Viewers: If YouTube already consumes 1+ hour of your daily screen time, removing repetitive ads alone probably justifies the $11.99 monthly charge.

• Travelers/Commuters: Anyone frequently on the move without reliable WiFi/cell service. Downloading videos for offline playback is extraordinarily useful.

• Global Internet Users: Provides smooth streaming for bandwidth-constrained regions. Also bypass government censorship or blocked videos in some cases.

• Background Audio Fans: Premium practically turns YouTube into a top-notch music service allowing continuous playlists. Helpful for long podcast listening sessions too.

• Current Music Streamers: If you already pay for Spotify or Apple Music, then YouTube Music Premium comes essentially "free" while expanding your listening catalog.

May Not Need Premium:

• Occasional Viewers: Tuning into viral videos once a week likely isn‘t worth a recurring fee. Let the intermittent ads play.

• Ad-Blocker Users: If you use an ad-blocker browser extension already on laptops/desktops with tolerable mobile ad frequency.

• Binge Watchers: Netflix/Prime Video likely better investment if you exclusively binge full TV episodes and movies. More content variety in those ecosystems currently.

• Kids Content: Parents finding endless enjoyment from nursery rhyme repetition or toy unboxings may not need to pay up. Let those episodes roll continuously instead without ads.

• Travel Restricted: Unfortunately still not available in some Asian and African countries limiting full global access possibilities.

Hopefully evaluating the pros, cons and your personal viewing habits against these recommendations assists in deciding if YouTube Premium offers good value.

For me as a heavy music streamer and YouTube news/entertainment binger, the feature unlock of downloading videos plus gaining ad-free background audio easily justifies the reasonable monthly cost. But lighter users may be better served saving their $12 monthly fee.

YouTube Premium: Final Thoughts

After reading this full YouTube Premium review guide detailing pricing, features and first-hand experiences as a long-time paying subscriber – do you think it may be worthwhile for your viewing habits?

I sincerely believe YouTube Premium offers fantastic overall value, especially for frequent viewers who have come to depend more and more on YouTube for both music and video entertainment. Being able to enjoy all that content ad-free and with advanced features like offline downloads seems well worth $11.99 per month in my opinion.

But ultimately it depends how highly you prioritize uninterrupted viewing sessions plus secondary perks like the YouTube Music bundle. I know for me, the quality of life downgrade going back to video ads and losing background audio would be too substantial at this point even beyond the affordable pricing.

I hope breaking down all of the core YouTube Premium details here helps inform your personal decision on whether it belongs as part of your streaming entertainment budget or not. Feel free to reach out with any other questions!