For $12 a month, YouTube Premium goes ad-free and also offers a host of upgrades including the ability to play videos in the background, downloadable content, and access to a huge library of music and video content. I found it to be a great deal if overwhelming at times and a bit redundant if you already belong to other streaming services.
Background Play, Finally
One feature which comes with Premium that seems like a minor upgrade but actually isn’t is the ability to play videos in the background. Many times I’ll be watching a video and want to switch to email or word processing and the video… just stops. This isn’t acceptable in 2020 and it’s all fixed with Premium.
Exclusive Content
One big advantage of YouTube Premium is the amount of original content included with the price. For hardcore YouTube fans that means access to exclusive material by YouTubers like Lilly Singh and Rooster Teeth. YouTube’s music service is being integrated with Google Play Music which is going away “soon,” the company says. But YouTube premium subscribers will have full access to the Google Play Music library. Google recently added podcasts and there are plenty to choose from.
Download Stuff for Later
This used to be great when people needed to travel on planes (flying objects with wings for those who have forgotten) and didn’t have access to Wi-Fi. Now that the pandemic has us all mostly at home, it’s slightly less useful but may still come in handy if civilization collapses, and the only thing left to do is watch your saved sitcom episodes on a tablet powered by a solar charger. I found YouTube Premium to be a refreshing change of pace after years of wading through the ad-strewn debris of its regular service. Would I pay $12 a month for the privilege? Maybe, as there’s a ton of content on there and I’m not going anywhere except my couch for the rest of 2020, at least.
