YouTube hits 50 million premium subscription customers

Google-owned YouTube has amassed 50 million subscribers to its Premium and Music services, the video platform has announced.

The total of 50 million users subscribed to YouTube Music and YouTube Premium is an increase from 30 million in December 2020. 

Announcing the milestone in a blog post, YouTube does not provide a breakdown between Music and Premium subscribers but the article is mostly focused on the former. 

The key difference between YouTube’s two premium subscription services is cost. YouTube Music costs US$9.99 per month and allows users to listen to and download ad-free music, while YouTube Premium is an extra US$2 and extends the ad-free and download capabilities to all videos on YouTube.

Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, writes that YouTube is the “fastest growing music subscription service out there,” and praises growth in markets including Korea, India, Japan, Russia and Brazil.