YouTube Premium may sometimes seem like a forgotten streaming service, but it's actually a great choice for YouTube power users But if you haven't signed up yet, there's some bad news

As discovered by 9to5Google, Google has secretly raised the subscription fee for YouTube Premium from $1199 to $1399 per month By sneakily, we mean that this announcement was first made on the registration page The next day, current subscribers (including ours) received an email informing them of the price increase

Apparently the annual plan will also be raised from $11999 to $13999 So far, we have only been able to confirm the price increase in the US, but we expect these price changes will eventually affect most, if not all, regions of the world

This would result in the following price breakdown for YouTube Premium:

In response to initial reports, a YouTube spokesperson acknowledged the price increase We are revising our prices to ensure that we continue to deliver great service and features to our YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers in the US"

The spokesperson added, "We are pleased to announce that we will be increasing the price of YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium in the US We believe the new pricing reflects the value of YouTube Premium, which allows subscribers to enjoy ad-free YouTube with background and offline playback, as well as uninterrupted access to over 100 million songs in the YouTube Music app"

Yes, that's right; YouTube Music Premium is also getting a price increase The music streaming service will see a smaller price increase from $999 to $1099 per month This will put it in line with other music streaming services such as Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, but $1 more than Spotify Premium

This leaves the price breakdown for YouTube Music Premium as follows:

But here's the good news: you can listen to YouTube Music for free if you subscribe to YouTube Premium At just $3 per month, the upgrade is well worth the money

According to the original report, "Existing subscribers will see the new pricing in the next billing cycle Future emails will explain the changes; those who used (Google Play Music or YouTube Red) five years ago will get an additional three months at the current rate"

The new prices are "not a change from the current rates

However, one TG staff member is getting an even longer period before the new prices take effect, according to an official email he just received Here is the content of that email:

This means that in the next few days (or so), everyone will be on the newly raised monthly rates But even with the price increase, there are plenty of reasons why YouTube Premium is worth it Despite the lack of ads on the videos and the bundled premium music streaming service, you may find that the price of only $14 per month is worth it