I ditched Spotify for YouTube Music Premium and you should too

Name value is a big factor in getting somebody to sign up for a service, and is a big reason why Spotify is as ubiquitous as it is. There are quite a few alternatives to the platform, and you might’ve heard of names like Apple Music and Tidal, but there’s another, perhaps lesser-known option you can consider.

YouTube Music Premium is an underrated service if you’re looking for a way to listen to music. A big part of staying with a particular service is not wanting to leave behind your carefully curated algorithm, but if you’re looking for something new, YouTube Music Premium is worth a shot. A quick glance at the service shows it has quite a bit to offer, but you’ll need to stick with it for a little to get the algorithm tailored toward your listening preferences. The results of staying with the service for a month or so might shock you. Here are just some of the factors that went into my decesion to switch from Spotify to YouTube Music Premium, and they might just sway you too:

1 A lower price

It’s cheaper than Spotify

What might be surprising to hear is that YouTube Music Premium comes in at a lower price than Spotify. A base YouTube Music Premium subscription costs $10.99 a month, while a Spotify Premium plan starts at $11.99. It’s just a difference of a dollar, but that’s a big difference for some people. With streaming services constantly raising their prices, saving a dollar here and there can be a big boon.

A YouTube Premium Music subscription is also included with YouTube Premium, but going down that path raises the price to $13.99. The appeal here is getting ad-free viewing on YouTube on top of your music. If you don’t watch a lot of YouTube, it’s probably not worth springing for, but it’s a nice benefit for people who like listening to music and browsing YouTube. Students can drop the price all the way down to $5.49 a month, and there’s also an annual plan available for $109.99. There are ways to get Premium for cheaper, so that’s worth looking into.

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2 Videos are included with the subscription

Some visual flair

While music is the main draw, YouTube Music Premium offers an advantage over other streaming services by giving access to videos too. This makes a lot of sense considering YouTube is a video platform, but if you’re ever bored with strictly audio-only listening, you can switch to watching videos. It’s a nice touch that adds a little bit of incentive to using YouTube over other music streaming services.

There are a lot of songs uploaded on YouTube that come attached with music videos, so there’s a long library to dig through. If you get tired of watching videos, you can swap back to an audio-only mode with the touch of a button.

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3 YouTube Music Premium has a wide selection of offerings

Lots and lots of music