YouTube Premium and Music Surpass 50 Million Subscribers - MacRumors
Skip to Content

YouTube Premium and Music Surpass 50 Million Subscribers

YouTube says it has passed 50 million subscribers for its Premium and Music subscriptions, making it the "fastest growing music subscription" service in the world, according to YouTube's global head of music, Lyor Cohen.

General YouTube Feature 1
YouTube says that it has more than 50 million paying subscribers collectively across YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. The Google-owned service says it attributes this milestone to several factors, but mainly due to how subscribers can get "uninterrupted access to the largest and most diverse catalogue of music, artists and culture" through its subscriptions.

We've got killer products in YouTube Music and YouTube Premium that deliver truly unique value to artists and creators and the best experience for music fans and video lovers. We're in our own lane -- there's no other place where fans can get uninterrupted access to the largest and most diverse catalogue of music, artists and culture. We're making it easy for music fans to go deep and find their thing -- whether that's on YouTube or the YouTube Music app.

YouTube Music comes as part of a YouTube Premium subscription but can also be purchased standalone. With YouTube Premium, customers can download videos for offline viewing, play videos in the background playback, no ads, and more.

YouTube Music is one of many competitors to Apple Music, and it's hard to name a winner purely based on subscriber count. Apple doesn't provide specific subscriber figures, but the latest estimate was 60 million subscribers in 2019. Three years on, the number is likely higher. Additionally, Apple One, which bundles ‌Apple Music‌ with other Apple's services, makes it harder to determine how many ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers are out there.

Popular Stories

Surprise and Shine Live Coverage Article

Apple Event Live Blog: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro, and More Expected

Wednesday September 9, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event kicks off today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, where we're expecting to see the foldable iPhone Duo, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models, new AirPods 5 earphones, and perhaps some other announcements. Apple is providing a live video stream on its website, on YouTube, and in the company's TV app across various platforms. We...
iphone duo

Apple Announces Foldable 'iPhone Duo'

Wednesday September 9, 2026 10:56 am PDT by
Apple today announced the "iPhone Duo," a new kind of iPhone featuring two screens and a foldable inner display. The two halves of the iPhone Duo connect into a single continuous frame with the same aspect ratio across both displays, and Apple said the transition between open and closed is designed to feel fluid. When fully open, Apple says it is the thinnest iPhone ever made, with an...
apple surprise and shine event

Apple Event Today: iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo Cheat Sheet

Tuesday September 8, 2026 10:24 am PDT by
Apple's biggest event of the year is almost here, and all eyes are on Cupertino. With the first foldable iPhone expected to headline Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, the rumor mill has been running full throttle, fuelled by the biggest single design change in the life of the iPhone. To get you up to speed, here's a quick reference...

Top Rated Comments

CrapShack Avatar
66 months ago
I gave in late last year and did the 30 day free trial. FISHED IN. I now practically live in YouTube. It's the best $11.99 I spend a month. If I could have only one streaming service, it would be YouTube. Not even a contest. Nobody's more surprised than me, trust me.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
66 months ago
Unsurprising given the aggressive advertising. I really wish YouTube would stop pushing this in annoying pop-ups.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maxfromdenmark Avatar
66 months ago
Sure, subscribe or watch 4 ads in 2 minutes long film 😖
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
66 months ago
49 million of them in India using a VPN. 😄
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
66 months ago
It's actually money well spent, and especially so if you have children.

YouTube content is so much better nowadays than anything on TV.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ds2000 Avatar
66 months ago
I've always thought its madly overpriced. Use the brave browser = no ads.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)