Beginning on September 2, 2020, we’re making some changes to our Premium membership options in South Korea. Here’s what you can expect:
- YouTube Music will become a paid subscription service.
- The price of YouTube Premium will increase for new sign-ups.
- Existing YouTube Premium members will keep their access to YouTube Premium, which includes access to YouTube Music Premium, at their current price.
For details on each of these changes, read more below.
Changes to YouTube Music
We are excited to offer YouTube Music Premium, our paid music subscription service, in South Korea. With YouTube Music Premium, you get a variety of benefits in the YouTube Music app, including ad-free listening, background play, the ability to download music for offline listening, and more. To sign up for a YouTube Music Premium membership, follow the steps here.
With the launch of YouTube Music Premium, there will be some changes for YouTube Music listeners. You will need to purchase YouTube Music Premium if you want to stream music on the YouTube Music app or music.youtube.com. You will still be able to play local files on Android devices and you can still stream music on the YouTube app or youtube.com, with ads.
To save and export your YouTube Music data, like songs, subscribed artists and other data, you can use the Google Takeout service.
Note: YouTube Music with ads is available in South Korea only when streaming on Google Home and screenless Nest devices.
Changes to YouTube Premium
On September 2, 2020, the price of YouTube Premium for new users in South Korea will increase. If you sign up for YouTube Premium on or after September 2, 2020, you will be subject to the new price.
If you are a current YouTube Premium member in South Korea and you keep your membership active, you will continue to have access to all of your Premium benefits at no additional cost. Your Premium benefits include an ad-free experience, background play, and downloads across the millions of videos on YouTube, as well as access to YouTube Music Premium.
A couple of things to note:
- The increased price will apply if you cancel a current YouTube Premium membership and sign up on or after September 2, 2020.
- For users with a paused YouTube Premium membership, the price you will be charged for your monthly membership when you resume will be the same price you were paying prior to pausing.