What YouTube Premium Actually Is

YouTube Premium is the paid version of YouTube. It costs $13.99/month (or less if you’re a student or part of a family plan), and it gives you a few key perks:

• No ads. Ever.

• Background play — videos keep playing even if you lock your screen or open another app.

• Offline downloads — save videos to watch later without internet.

• Full access to YouTube Music Premium — YouTube’s music streaming service.

• Some exclusive content, though that’s not really the main reason people subscribe.

What Surprised Me Most: How Annoying Ads Actually Are

I didn’t realize how many ads I was watching until they disappeared.

Without ads, everything just feels smoother. You click a video and it starts. No “skip in 5 seconds,” no two back-to-back promos, no banners popping up mid-video. It’s like watching YouTube the way it was meant to be.

And once you get used to that? It’s really, really hard to go back.

Background Play = Massive Win

This is the feature I didn’t know I needed. With background play, I can start a video and then leave the app, scroll through messages, check emails, or even turn my screen off — and the audio keeps going.

This is perfect for:

• Listening to long interviews or podcasts on YouTube

• Music mixes or white noise while working

• Just not having your screen on 24/7

Without this feature, watching YouTube is a bit restrictive — especially on mobile.

Offline Downloads Are Surprisingly Handy

If you ever travel or have bad Wi-Fi, this feature alone is worth it. You can download full videos or playlists and watch them later, even with no signal.

I used this a lot more than I expected — on planes, during long car rides, or just when I didn’t want to eat up my data. It’s one of those “nice-to-have” features that becomes essential once you start using it.

Let’s Talk About YouTube Music Premium

You also get access to YouTube Music Premium, which is a music streaming service similar to Spotify or Apple Music — with a few key differences.

What’s cool about it:

• You get all the official tracks PLUS tons of remixes, live versions, covers, etc.

• Background play and downloads work the same way as they do for videos

• It syncs with your YouTube history and preferences

If you already pay for another music service, this might be extra. But if you’re someone who listens to music through YouTube anyway? This is a big upgrade.

Okay, But Is It Worth the Price?

That depends on how you use YouTube. If you only watch a few videos a week, maybe not. But if you’re like me and use YouTube for everything — music, learning, entertainment, background noise — then yeah, it starts to feel worth it pretty fast.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Worth it if you:

✅ Watch YouTube daily
✅ Listen to music/podcasts on YouTube
✅ Hate ads
✅ Travel or have limited data
✅ Want to support creators (Premium still pays them based on your watch time)

Maybe skip it if you:

❌ Only watch YouTube occasionally
❌ Use ad blockers and don’t care about background play
❌ Already pay for another music app and don’t use YouTube for audio

Final Thoughts

YouTube Premium isn’t one of those flashy, “look at all these new features!” kinds of services. It’s more like a quality-of-life upgrade. It quietly removes the things you didn’t realize were frustrating you — and adds a few small but powerful tools that make the experience better.

After a month of using it, I didn’t want to go back. It just made everything smoother, faster, and less annoying.

If you’re curious, I say go ahead and use the free trial. Give it a week and see how it feels. If it doesn’t change your life, you can cancel. But if you’re like me, there’s a good chance you won’t want to watch YouTube any other way.