Skip to main content

Pay to play: YouTube may offer paid subscriptions soon

youtube replaces annotations with cards now header 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
YouTube may have ads, but at least it’s free. That’s always been the reasoning behind the video-watching site’s popularity. Over the past year, many reports have hinted that YouTube is working on a paid subscription model for its music videos and other key content. Now, CEO Susan Wojcicki has spoken — YouTube will soon offer ad-free subscriptions to those who are willing to pay a small monthly fee.

Wojcicki revealed the company’s plans during Recode’s Code/Mobile conference. “YouTube right now is ad-supported, which is great because it has enabled us to scale to a billion users; but there’s going to be a point where people don’t want to see the ads,” Wojcicki said, adding that consumers “will either choose ads, or pay a fee, which is an interesting model. … We’re thinking about how to give users options.”

Recommended Videos

She also said that 50 percent of all YouTube viewers watch videos on mobile devices, but even so, watch times are increasing. YouTube has already adjusted its layout to suit mobile viewers and the paid subscription model may be the next step. Wojcicki believes that there is always a certain customer base that wants access to video without the ads and those users will be willing to pay a small amount each month to be ad-free. After all, the paid subscription model seems to be working fairly well for Spotify and other streaming apps like Netflix.

Although she didn’t reveal any details about YouTube’s paid music service subscription, Wojcicki did say that it’s ready to go live and hinted that it may be coming sooner than we think. Based on her comments, it seems likely that YouTube will continue to let users watch videos for free if they don’t mind ads, but offer the option of a subscription for those who do.

Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
What is spatial audio? The 3D sound experience fully explained
Person listening to spatial audio using Apple AirPods Max headphones.

Since Apple added “spatial audio” to the Apple Music streaming service and the AirPods family of wireless earbuds and headphones in 2021, it feels like you can’t read about new audio products or services without running into that term. And just a few short years later, it’s seemingly everywhere.

This has led to a lot of misconceptions about what spatial audio is, how it works, and why you need to hear it for yourself. People often ask, “If Apple created spatial audio, why are other companies claiming they do it, too?” The answer is that Apple didn’t create it, and you certainly don’t need to own its products to experience spatial audio.

Read more
How to download music from SoundCloud on desktop and mobile
Soundcloud Interface on a Macbook.

If you’re a huge music fan, you’ve probably combed through the many playlists, artists, and albums of your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But what about all the indie artists of the world? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating the
‘unsung gem’ acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music that’s a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums.

Read more
The best kids headphones of 2024: for fun, safety, and sound
Two kids using the Puro Sound PuroQuiet Plus to watch something on a tablet.

Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that there’s an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think “kid-friendly,” sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. That’s not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.

We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children aren’t harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight.

Read more