YouTube achieves a significant milestone as its Premium and Music services surpass 100 million global subscribers, yet it lags behind Spotify’s subscriber count
This week, YouTube revealed that its premium music and video streaming services, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, have exceeded 100 million subscribers worldwide. This significant milestone was achieved in less than three years since YouTube reported 50 million paid users in 2021.
In an open letter, Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube, expressed the company’s joy and gratitude for surpassing 100 million subscribers across both platforms. Cohen emphasized YouTube’s dedication to improving user experience, expanding its content library, and offering creators more opportunities for revenue.
“In 2015, there were doubts about the success of a subscription model on YouTube. Critics argued that the market was saturated and our platform was too unique. Now, with 100 million subscribers, our distinctiveness is the key to our success, and I believe there is still significant potential for growth,” he concluded.
YouTube Premium, introduced in 2018, provides an ad-free YouTube experience, background play on mobile devices, and offline downloads. Since its launch, YouTube has been dedicated to introducing new features to enhance this subscription tier.
Surpassing 100 million paying subscribers demonstrates YouTube’s strong position in the competitive streaming market. Despite this achievement, it lags behind market leader Spotify, which reported 226 million premium subscribers in Q3 2022. Apple, known for its limited disclosure of subscriber numbers, was estimated by J.P. Morgan to reach 110 million subscribers by 2025.
YouTube’s dual premium services have grown to be a crucial component of Alphabet’s business. In addition to delivering essential recurring revenue, Premium contributes to the growth of a vibrant creator community by offering an additional monetization avenue beyond advertisements.
YouTube benefits from its vast free user base of over 2 billion monthly active users, providing it with a natural advantage in converting viewers and listeners into paid subscribers. Additionally, the company has been strategically nudging users towards premium memberships by implementing unskippable ads and artificial slowdowns for those using ad blockers.
