Google Music was my go-to music streaming service, then they turned it into Youtube Red, then they changed it to Youtube Premium. So for me, I pay for a great music service, and I just happen to never see ads on youtube.
Same, there’s more music than spotify and the max quality isn’t too dissimilar and notably both max out above “CD quality”, which is what 95%+ of albums are released at
Also the recommendation algorithm (IMO, as this is where it gets subjective) is far superior to any alternatives - it’s actually a really good deal especially when you use it a lot - I’ve averaged 3.3h of music per day for the past 3 years, so I have no issues whatsoever paying for it
Back in the day I did a blind test between Google Music and Spotify and it wasn’t even close. Google was significantly better. They also let me upload lossless files which is a great bonus.
And you could shuffle play your whole library. RIP Google Music 😢
Yeah, youtube music is great especially if you like remixes and new EDM/Electronic stuff since all of that launches on youtube before any where else. I’m setting up a playlist for someone who uses spotify and I’m using a syncing tool. A bunch of times some songs couldn’t sync because they don’t exist on Spotify, that alone is a deal breaker for me on spotify.
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I’m listening?
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What does the script do exactly?
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I switched from Spotify because their personalized mixes and radio stations stopped letting you thumbs down songs. I got sick of hearing the exact same crap on my mixes. And no matter how many times I fucking skipped it, my metal mix would always play Mother by Danzig early in the playlist. No matter what I actually listened to, my “personalized” mixes always had the same crap on it. Thumbs down a song on a mix or radio on YT Music? It goes away forever.
Deezer also played the same few songs over and over. YT Music even has a mode to only play songs that i don’t have in my likes. Awesome.
YT Music even has a mode to only play songs that i don’t have in my likes. Awesome.
I don’t know this one, how do I find this? Thanks.
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Yeah, the people who had the music subscription are the winners in this situation since they get ad-free YT for just a fraction of the cost. If you were only subscribed to Premium to get rid of the ads, you now also have to pay the bundled music subscription you don’t need, which sucks.
When I got married I joined my wife’s Spotify family plan so I cancelled YouTube Red (it was around the time they were killing Google music)
After the first round of ads in YouTube I decided to keep my old subscription. They even let me keep my grandfathered plan since I only lapsed for a couple of day
Also I travel a lot and download videos to watch while on the plane and I believe that’s a premium feature
They took away my grandfathered plan when I signed up for pixel pass. I regret my decision. Since they beheaded pixel pass like everything else.
Everyone’s grandfathered plans have been removed this year, so it would have happened either way.
they haven’t upped my subscription cost yet
They will soon, I guess it hasn’t hit every country yet. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Fun fact:
If you use a VPN to put your location in a less expensive country like India you can sign up for YT Premium at a significantly lower rate (like a dollar or two a month)
You’ll need to use a credit card you haven’t used with Google before and look up a legitimate address for that country to use as the billing address.
Once you’ve completed the sign-up you no longer need to use a VPN to fake your location and you can just use YT Premium as normal, but at a much cheaper price point
Check out InnerTune or ViMusic
I’ve got it and like it AMA
Do you think everyone not paying is poor or greedy or entitled?
No.
Do you think that using adblocker is theft and on the same level as stealing a car?
(Just trying to make sure you’re not a linus in disguise)
Obviously it’s not like stealing a car and I’m pretty sure that’s a straw man, he just said it’s piracy, which I’d argue it is.
It’s like taking the train without paying, you aren’t inherently hurting anyone, but if no one pays/watches ads it’s not sustainable.
You remind me of the Simpsons episode where Marge was watching ads on Tivo because she felt bad for skipping them
I don’t. I do block adverts when I cannot pay to remove them.
I just hate the idea of paying so much not because great features but Google having beaten me into submission by taking away free features and introducing shitty stuff to force me to pay.
To be fair I never felt like Google beat me into submission. I pay for it because I consume so many hours of video that subscribing makes sense and gives some small amount to the creators I watch. That amount was zero before I subscribed, since I was blocking advertisements.
That said I do see the frustration. I don’t think they’ve gone about it in a great way.
Would you still pay for it if at some point google were to decide to add ads, even if less intrusive than in the free version?
If I have no way to remove ads I would block them. If payment doesn’t remove ads, I’ll unsubscribe and block them.
What do you feel about giving your money to a company that truly doesn’t deserve it and can fuck up its customers whenever they can? Even more when you can get YouTube Premium features easily for free with a proper adblocker on PC (I mean, it is possible yet), Revanced on an Android phone, and Smart Tube Next on an Android TV setup box or capable TV (just to name a few options, especially of my setup).
Whether they deserve it or not isn’t in the calculation. They provide a website I use and provide me with a way to bypass their god awful ad placements while still providing a small amount of funding to those who create content on the platform. It’s not ideal, but it’s the web environment we’re in.
Going the free route is of course possible, but this one “just works” and doesn’t need anything more to than YouTube itself. Like I’ve said to another person: if there was no way to pay to remove ads I would just block ads. But my time is more valuable than my money. I don’t look down on those who do not subscribe. It’s what makes sense to me.
They provide a website I use and provide me with a way to bypass their god awful ad placements
Dark patterns in all splendor.
It’s not ideal, but it’s the web environment we’re in.
It’s the web environment we let to be and they know it, that is why Netflix started to block account sharing when the others didn’t care at all (and they might start doing so or already did), and why there does exist paid tiers with ads in some services and also why shrinkflation happens in our web environment and it will still existing.
Like I’ve said to another person: if there was no way to pay to remove ads I would just block ads.
Smart… A little spoiler alert… You’ll have to.
My Nvidia Shield TV Pro was sold as a gaming streaming device strongly, they got rid of their core feature (official support) and nowadays it does seem like a glorified Chromecast with the launcher update which half of the screen are just ads, people started to block it, downgrading or just replacing it with another launcher for good.
My point is, ads and streaming features are bonded and prone to happen at some time.
Heck, even sponsor material within the YouTube videos are a thing… And a big reason to keep using the aforementioned YT alternatives even if you are a YT premium user, and weather is needed to sustain content creators or pure greed by them, it is clear that it is not sufficient with whatever income gets to them with a YT premium subscription, but hey maybe if we ad some ads on top of the YT premium we can support them further.
I see your issues with it. Fact is I’m not forced to keep my subscription if Google decides to change its terms in a way where it no longer benefits me. Currently it does. It’s that simple. No dark pattern made me subscribe. I subscribed long before YouTube was as ridden with ads as people say it is these days. I dislike advertisements, not what YouTube gives me. It was an informed decision.
No one cares
No one cares that you don’t care
Fuckin speak for yourself I care that he doesn’t care.
I dont give a fuck about not giving a fuck, so I do give a fuck… Wait what?
(I give a fuck…)
About anything, I love everyone and care about everything
(I give a fuck…)
I literally care about every motherfucking thing
I give a negative number of fucks, but that underflowed so now i give
1.845*10^19fucks
That’s a weird question!
I have YT Premium and I really don’t mind paying. I watch a LOT of YT and making sure the creators I follow get paid for their work is important to me.
People will say the amount they get paid is miniscule but I’d say it’s better than nothing when you use an adblocker. Plus I also get YT Music.
YT Music is the GOAT. Their client is a bit sucky tho.
There are third party clients. And I agree. When I switched to YouTube music from Spotify, I found a lot more of the esoteric music that interests me.
Discoverability has been so much better with YTM that it was for spotify, personally. Preferred GPM and was super turned off of YTM for while because of the change, but now its more than good enough to me.
If you go the way of third party clients you’re already getting most of the benefits whether you pay or not iirc
Or lack thereof in the desktop—the third party ones seem to be electron wrappers, so I might as well make a pinned tab on my browser instead.
I like how barebones it is overall though, I switched in 2020 because I felt Spotify was getting too bloated.
Patreon seems like a good alternative to support the creators.
I do both.
I meant more for people not wanting to give in to Google but still support the creators
YouTube premium isn’t the way to make sure the creators get paid, since you’re sending that money to YouTube first. It’s way better to donate them directly or buy their merch etc.
I have it and enjoy it. It pays the creators and I don’t see ads. So don’t speak for me, please. Also, you need a reality check on what actually matters in life.
It’s crazy how people advocate for a free (as in freedom) internet with as much privacy as you want, then in the same breath tell you how they’re entitled to content without paying.
A lot of channels exist as a natural extension of an already existing business. I’m not going to support Google and the mass dregs that create clickbait garbage and predatory content that takes advantage of the algorithm in order to make as much money from ads as possible.
Not all content deserves to be monetized. Google isn’t entitled to make money by simply hosting reaction videos and hyperbolic political commentary.
“simply hosting”
You sir don’t have the slightest idea of what an immense operation “simply hosting” those videos is.
I also don’t gaf. If YouTube wants to host a pile of garbage then that’s on them. I’m not paying for it.
A lot of channels exist as a natural extension of an already existing business
I don’t know what that means
I’m not going to support Google and the mass dregs that create clickbait garbage and predatory content that takes advantage of the algorithm in order to make as much money from ads as possible.
Then pay and show Google that their business model needs to change. If you pay, then their incentive is not to maximize watch time, which is probably why you have a lot of clickbait trash. Or don’t watch YouTube.
Google isn’t entitled to make money by simply hosting reaction videos and hyperbolic political commentary.
And you aren’t entitled to watch videos without ads and without paying. Choose one.
I’ll watch the videos I want to watch without watching ads and without paying and no amount of fuckery is going to stop me.
Fine just know that this is entitled behavior and you’re just perpetuating the ad-block ad-block-redtector rat race.
Just know that creating and hosting content and expecting to be paid for it is entitled behavior. It’s no different than panhandling.
Google isn’t entitled to make money by simply hosting reaction videos and hyperbolic political commentary.
This just in: man thinks storage, computing power, and bandwidth is free!
I do the same. It’s the main way I watch tv. Not just to support the content creators, but also as a way to aggregate all my “mainstream” interests in one place. From one app on my TV I can catch up on sports highlights, late night comedy clips, and my favorite music festivals, back to back ad free. And that was just last night
Same, the value I get from it through YouTube Music is significant. It’s also barely more expensive than Spotify in my region so it’s a no-brainer.
Though I still use ReVanced to get SponsorBlock and other UI fixes.
Yeah, YouTube has issues (dislike removal, demonetization policies, etc) but premium is not as bad as people treat it.
I would actually be even more bullish on it if premium disregarded any demonetization of videos (edit: in terms of paying creators for the view)
Edit: also I would wish any data collected from premium users is limited to improving the user experience and not for improving ads
Edit: also I would wish any data collected from premium users is limited to improving the user experience and not for improving ads
True. I think the only “data” they get from us for that purpose are their exclusive beta features, and even that is voluntary and not very common
No, it isnt pays. You pay to google with your data, and your money too. And later you will pay in same way for gmail, search, etc… shearing <–🐑🐑🐑🐑
Actually it’s quite the opposite, some of my friends are considering buying YouTube premium and even people on the other social media sites are advocating it as the “only good subscription”.
Plus one. Switched to it from Deezer as i couldnt listen to everything i wanted.
Am happy. Never had ads before but supporting the few youtubers i watch also feels good-er
Ever since I unsubscribed, I get at least 1 pop up a week begging me to come back.
If you wanted to keep me, Google, you should have done a better job of remembering what “grandfathered plan” means.
If you use ReVanced, NewPipe or FreeTube you won’t get these pop ups :)
Tried to get ReVanced on my phone, but I don’t really feel like giving up the features walled behind SafetyNet by going through the trouble of rooting, and for the non-root option I didn’t want to have another background process always running only for it to sometimes not work anyways.
My main use of YouTube is casting to my TV to watch videos in bed, so alternative apps aren’t really viable either. If this were me 10 years ago when I actually had time and interest in tinkering around, I might be all for it. But these days, I just don’t have the time or patience to play the cat and mouse game with Google to avoid ads. I just try to reduce my YouTube consumption instead.
ReVanced can make use of root, but doesn’t require it. I use ReVanced on an unrooted phone, and the core of ReVanced is the official YouTube app so everything works the same way. You pick “patches” to disable ads, shorts, etc.
Well, if you can find me the rootless option that doesn’t require also keeping ReVanced Manager/MicroG running in the background at all times, I might be interested.
Manager only does the patching, so it’s not running. MicroG well… as long as you don’t want to login…
and it is marvellous
what was your grandfathered plan? I’m still paying $10/mo
It’s going up next month
reeeeeeeeee. I’m probably fine with $12/mo if that’s the new price. but if they raise it again in the next 5 years I’m out
I think it’s like fifteen, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine with it too.
that’s like a 50% price increase, we’ll see how I feel when it actually hits
Yeah, that’s how I am.
I doubt it will be a constant any more though.
I was paying a family plan which was $15/month back when I subscribed during the Google Play Music days, with the guarantee from Google that my rate would not go up for being an early adopter.
About this time last year, they sent emails saying “Hey, so we know we told you your rate wouldn’t be going up, but…it’s going up to $23/month. But as a ‘we’re sorry’ gift, you can still pay the lower rate for two whole months after we increase it for everyone else first! See? You’re still our favorite.”
I switched to Spotify out of pure spite and pay less now for a Duo plan.
I’ll have to decide what ad free YouTube is worth to ms
Not gonna lie, I have cut a bunch of subscriptions but youtube premium is the one I tried to cut and couldn’t fucking do it. Even before the ad block debacle. It was impossible to block ads on mobile (where I spend most If my youtube time) . I tried new pipe but that experience honestly sucked. THE ADS ARE FUCKING ABSURD. Like literally unusable fucking garbage. I’ve had premium for years and got spoiled I guess but if I couldn’t afford premium youtube would go into the graveyard of the 2023 internet enshitification along with Netflix and reddit. Even $30 a month for my family is worth it. It is 90% of my entertainment now that reddit is gone.
It sucks because it is a synthetic, created need. That ad revenue doesn’t go to creators, they have their own ads. The need for youtube premium is purely due to their extortion. But I submit, they win. Clicking a video you want to watch and seeing those yellow hash marks on the time bar makes me want to put my head through a wall and youtube premium makes all that anger just… not be.
That ad revenue doesn’t go to creators, they have their own ads.
It does, over half of it in fact.
I’ve been going with no ads on mobile for years and years now. It’s been painless with Vanced and now its successor ReVanced. Unlike with YT Premium, ReVanced also has the added bonus of SponsorBlock. It just makes modern YouTube so much better and is entirely free.
Downside is yeah it won’t work on iOS… Tbh, it’s one of the main reasons why I refuse to buy an iOS device. I can’t fucking stand in video ads.
Or Firefox with the uBlock Origin and SponsorBlock plugins.
Watching YouTube in a mobile browser is a shit experience imo. It’s better than using the stock YouTube app with ads out the wazoo, but it’s still not a great experience. Not being able to utilize PIP mode while browsing for a new video or inside of another app really sucks.
Firefox+unlock+SponsorBlock is fantastic for desktop. But it’s subpar for mobile imo.
PIP mode
Good point, I didn’t realize I’d never done picture-in-picture on the phone. For me, it’s enough to do split-screen with e.g. a game in the second screen.
More and more I get tempted to get an iPhone (Pro) especially now they have USB-C, but until sideloading there becomes as easy as it is on Android, it’s still gonna be a tough sell for me.
It was impossible to block ads on mobile (where I spend most If my youtube time)
Buy an android lol
Is there a working ad block for the youtube app on android? Always been on android, never been able to block ads on YouTube. NewPipe and Using YouTube from a browser are both shit experiences.
Why use the app instead of watching through browser? I have adblock and background play extensions on Firefox mobile. I’m sure there are workarounds to block ads on the app though
Why use it in a browser when you can just ReVanced it? Adblock + sponsorblock + background play + a myriad of other features
Try Youtube revanced it works just like the normal youtube app.
Its a little more complicated to set up but its worth it.
Newpipe is fine as the player, just a hassle for discovery.
For me, it’s now almost muscle memory to find a video in the YouTube app, click share - more - Newpipe sponsorblock.
I watch most things on ReVanced but I use NewPipe for age gated things
I got it for the music streaming app and ad-less YouTube + some free movies. It’s great.
Please don’t ask me anything.
Same we got it for music and the rest is just bonus
Had it for nearly as long as it’s been a thing. I only remember I have it when I get a new phone and haven’t logged in yet.
I originally justified the cost of Premium by changing from paying for Spotify, which kept letting me down with playlist limitations–a playlist of 500+ songs would actually only shuffle about 60. YouTube Music also has issues with prioritizing an artist’s popular songs, but is much better overall.
Yea I use YouTube a ton so it’s easily worth it for me
Me too. The music app layout online and mobile are both absolute garbage. Kept Spotify anyway.
I was part of the Initial YouTube Premium (YouTube Red anyone?) So I havent had to see ads on any of my family devices in YEARS. Back when Google Play Music was included with it. Such a freaking bargin back then, bailed on Spotify immediately.
I realize that that stupid little choice has changed the way I consumed content. I don’t watch traditional media nearly at all anymore. Same for my siblings and cousins who’re on my family plan. I also like the fact it more directly supports the creators I come back to week after week.
The price increases have been a lot, and I’m fortunate to be able to pay for it. As my sole streaming platform I pay for, I find its worth the value. That DOESNT mean I agree with the scummy policies they’ve been implementing. It just sucks that with my conintued payment it sort of reflects the idea I am.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I get more value out of YT Premium than any other streaming service.
I’ve also been with Premium since the YouTube Red days. It was nice to have peace of mind of no ads on my TV (didn’t need PiHole) and mobile devices (iOS was wrestling with device adblockers for a while). I was grandfathered into the old pricing model until recently. It’s still not that bad per person, but if they raise it too much more, I’m gonna bail.
this is especially unfuriating
edit: yes, this is my account. i am not happy that i’m paying and still get fed ads.
I have premium and have never seen this before
just wait, I’ve had premium for a long time now and this is the first time I noticed this.
i’m not sure if they’re trying new things or I just haven’t noticed it
The ad companies literally overabused it so much we learned mind-adblock anything that’s not directly overlapping the content. That’s why they need to be overabusing the pre- and mid- video ads so much now.
Is this actually real? Wow.
indeed, it’s a sad day
YouTube Premium is actual cancer
Those are not ads, they are just helpful product suggestions!
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“Oh, you’re not interested? Let us increase our aggressive advertising and fight against ad-blocks to change your mind then”
I haven’t seen Louis Rossman’s new video where the thumbnail claims their war on adblockers is backfiring, but i’m quite curious as i also found an adblocker for my smart tv that i’m going to try out when i get home from work.
Idgaf. Yt revanced and smarttubenext for now, if they crack down on those - firefox with ublock on mobile or desktop, if crack down on that - firefox with ublock on desktop only, if they crackdown on free yt on desktop - maybe cheap Argentina or Indian subscription, if they crack down on even that - I’m out.
Alternate caption: “You guys wanna stop stealing our server bandwidth?”
The moment Google stops stealing my data I might consider using YouTube premium
Legislation is stopping them, hence increasing upfront cost to offset
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
Okay, so how’s that Premium consideration going?
Hard to say they’re stealing when you give consent by agreeing to their ToS
when you start making youtube better instead of worse
Lol you’re the one contributing to making it worse. Google already loses money on operating YouTube and freeloaders only exacerbate that loss. They’re going to make ads longer, unskippable, and take away your perception of a choice. They’re going to kill every other option you have. Pay or stop watching.
it was worse before i started blocking ads
look what you made me do
pay or stop watching
no
Pay or stop watching isn’t the choice I’m putting in front of you.
It’s the one YouTube is winding up to put in front of you. Good luck.
you made it look like that
youtube is winding up to put in front of you
will they send police if i keep blocking ads
Normally I’d agree with you, but this is Google, the 4th largest companies in the world, not some scrappy startup which might go away next quarter if they can’t hit their revenue target. If Google actually shutdown YouTube, I’d cheer because that’s when the real competition begun in the video space.
Right, so only scrappy startups deserve to run a profitable business and Google should be forced to choke down the abhorrent cost of YouTube out of… what exactly? If they were making money hand over fist on it, sure, fuck em. But they’re not. YouTube isn’t profitable and the reason there aren’t competitors is for that exact reason. They are literally free video data storage with no limit. No site can compete with that. Everything else would make you pay for a membership or have a small hard limit or even have some kind of gate yet you take it as the standard.
If YouTube fails there will be no alternative to take their place. Amazon might try, but their greed might stop them. They’re already a household name, what would the point be?
The thing is, I’m ok if Google do this right from the start. Instead, they use their massive capitals to run YouTube for free and squashed all their competitors. Vimeo was the most promising competitor in this space, but they can’t compete with Google’s infinite subsidy to YouTube and had to pivot. Now that there is no competitor around anymore, Google jacked up prices, reduced monetization rates for their content creators, locked up formerly free features behind subscription plans, and now declaring a war with adblockers.
If YouTube fails there will be no alternative to take their place.
So yeah, I’m not supporting Google in this space because this whole situation where there is no competitors to YouTube anymore is Google’s own doing.
lol stealing
Browsers that block data, Adblockers that block ad revenue, no interest in a subscription.
You give nothing, take everything, then act entitled to do so. Yeah, stealing is an apt word for it. At least own what you are.
apt word
am very smart
If you think “apt word” is a ‘very smart’ phrase I am so sorry your teachers failed you.
“apt word” is an ‘i want to look smart in an average comment section’ phrase
It’s in my normal vocabulary. Again, my condolences for your teachers.
your teachers failed you if you defend youtube for free
I walk through a park
“You are stealing since you contribute nothing back!”
lol hell yeah, this is a fucking stick-up
A park is funded by the city. The city is funded by non-negotiable taxes.
You’re new to this, aren’t you?
Private park, where you can come in if you watch the bilboards. And I’m not looking at your bilboards. I’m sorry but I just won’t look at them like lol
Geez use a little imagination, public city parks aren’t the only parks
Your analogy falls apart like wet toilet paper. Private highways require tolls, a small contribution to the maintenance of the road. Renting a car, house, etc. The concept of letting people use something expensive for a small nominal fee is the very foundation of our society and on the internet, that fee can be pushed to advertisers if you don’t want to cough it up. Block the advertisers, you’re stealing the service, which comes with a fine or jail time. Since we can’t do that, want to know the alternative?
Blocking adblockers. Hulu and Twitch already do it. How long before they remake their player to do the same? You don’t get it. The mega corporation always gets paid and they will damn sure sink the platform if they can’t.
You can’t compare toll roads, this would be like a road paid for by billboards and you agree to look at the billboards if you want to use it. And no, I’m not looking at the billboards.
If you they didn’t want me to “steal” (lol) their bandwidth, they should have gates or whatever in it. Until then, I’m cruising through
If youtube is ever able to completely make it so I can’t block ads, I will stop using youtube. I’ve stopped using reddit and have never gone back. I will get by.
