Opinion
Spotify HiFi – what a cheek!
by Dayan Pfammatter
YouTube price increase: what are they smoking?
25.9.2024
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Google is increasing prices for YouTube Premium. Even in Switzerland, slapping on a whopping ten francs a month. This makes YouTube a luxury good for families. I’ve had it.
The fact YouTube was able to force me into their premium subscription a long time ago really bothers me. But then again, maybe not – like when I wrote a few articles about new advertising measures on YouTube over the past few months. In these cases, I’m grateful about being able to pay for YouTube Premium without having to only eat cup noodle for weeks. I also don’t have to resort to tech tinkering or VPN piracy. My millennial urge for comfort is met.
Luxury TV
Maybe it’s time for me to get younger again. As it turns out, YouTube is raising prices in Switzerland. Two francs more per month for a single subscription. OK. Dumb, but OK. Just one thing: the price of a family subscription has gone up by a whole ten (!!!) francs a month. To CHF 33.90.– That’s 406.80 francs a year. Respectfully, YouTube: what the hell? Yes, yes, I know it takes up to five users.
Source: Florian Bodoky
Thing is, they all have to live in the same household for this to work. It may be due to my limited life experiences, but how often does it really happen that five people live in the same household and can contribute equally to this fee? Only one example comes to mind, a shared flat among friends. Otherwise, it’s very often one or two earners (and probably not their offspring) who bear these costs alone. Pretty crazy.
It’s even worse if you have a YouTube Premium subscription on an Apple device. Since Apple now takes its cut, YouTube is passing that on to you too. Bam, your family subscription now costs 43.90 francs, i.e. 526.80 francs per year. It’s the priciest streaming service around.
YouTube Music? Nope, sorry.
YouTube’s of course advertising that you’ll also get YouTube Music for free. Whether you like it and want to use it is, of course, up to you and a matter of taste. As a premium user, I tried to switch from Spotify to YouTube Music twice – neither time worked out. The user interface in particular annoyed me so much in everyday life that I still prefer paying extra for Spotify. And when I compare user numbers – 100 million on YouTube (for Music AND Premium) and 236 million paying users on Spotify, I seem to be in good company.
Source: Florian Bodoky
YouTube seems to be exploiting its market position quite a bit, as they are – not officially, but de facto – without rival. Sure, there’s Twitch, for example. However, the platform only shows livestreams and is relatively clearly focused on gaming. There’s also Vimeo – a video hosting service, true, but without the community, and therefore with much less content than YouTube. So that essentially leaves YouTube – and the ad-choked free version makes watching videos a torture.
Do you see things differently? Or do you know a good alternative to YouTube? Let me know in the comments.
Header image: Shutterstock
I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
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