On a related note as someone who uses YouTube constantly YouTube Premium is absolutely worth it.
I was never able to get into YouTube Music, though, so I don't actually use it to stream my music. The fact that my playlists are shared between YouTube and YouTube Music is enough for me to drop it from serious consideration as a music streaming service on its own. That, plus the lack of lossless streaming, inconsistent, clunky UI, and lack of any positive features that distinguish it from Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music, is why I never used it for anything other than sharing songs with people who didn't use Tidal.
That they apparently also include ads in the albums I transferred from Google Play Music - albums that I paid for - is just added insult.
The main way I justified paying the subscription was that other people in my household got access to ad-free music streaming (and they actually used it, unlike me), Youtubers get comped more from me watching their videos, and I didn't have to worry about whole-home adblockers to remove ads from the app. But after a 50% price hike that takes it above the prices for Tidal Family ($15), Apple Music Family ($17), and Spotify Family ($16), it's not something I can justify anymore.
(Youtube Music Family is $15, FWIW, but it doesn't include Youtube itself.)
The UX and performance of the YouTube Music web client is so much worse than the old Google Music web client. I used to be able to scroll my entire album collection without a hiccup on Google Music, that's now impossible with YouTube Music
It feels deeply icky
Is that true? Yeah it's there, more so in the past, but I have to imagine that was a tiny amount of their viewership. I'd imagine most viewing is from individual channels of real people.
Correct and I believe YT Music pays much more per listen than Spotify to the artist.
Btw: as someone who's worked in banks, I'd like to point out that there are circumstances where some banks will charge-back automatically (or outright "accept the payment", then not pay), if they suspect fraud for example.
Credit-cards are not that common here in Euro-land.
But debit cards are, which also work, it's not just credit cards.
Trustly, Sofort, IDEAL
IDEAL is huge in the Netherlands for example.
It makes you think you're watching somebody being authentic, when really it's a business disguising itself as an authentic person that's trying to sell you things (whether out of bias or strategy)
I have no problem watching the in video Gamer Nexus ads and don't expect paying for YouTube premium to skip those ads.
Pi-hole will work for some types of ad on all devices, but I'm not sure how it'd work for video ads in an app like YouTube - particularly if Google started serving the ads from the same servers as the content.
I use 3-4 browsers and because WFH + VM's for coding some incidental sandboxing.
(And before you say ‘just switch to Android’, I’m an iOS/WatchOS dev and a music producer for a living - if anything with the recent announcement of Logic on the iPad, I’ll be buying another iPads not reducing them…)
My only problem is the sponsored content in youtube videos, I would give some extra money to skip that crap as well.
Companies: Here's a ad-free version. Subscribe
HN/Reddit: Why are you asking me to subscribe? I hate this
Not on my dime.
Yes, I just bought a mattress, of course I'm interested in getting another one.
Oh, a new fridge! Always good to have a spare! Thanks Google!
Modern internet is absolutely unbearable without adblock.
Sure, if one clicks on an ad then immediately buys a product, then perhaps that would be more straightforward. However, I just do not think that is very common, but I could be wrong.
It just seems like there is some kind of false notion that if a company creates ads and the company has an increase in sales, then it must be because of the ads, when in reality, it could be entirely coincidental.
Tangental, but I intentionally boycott products that have annoying ads. I will walk to the ends of the Earth before I use GEICO, for example.
There are several levels of ads on YouTube and paying for YouTube premium only gets rid of one.
Or just don't watch videos that are littered with sponsors ads and maybe creators will do it less.
Maybe my expectations are biased by subscribing to Nebula? And for those who do, Medlife Crisis just posted a fun video on the placebo effect featuring great (fake) sponsor callouts.
They do make videos where the entire thing is sponsored by the company whose product is the subject of the video. But it's like one or two a month.
And 5-10 seconds to mention merch is annoying sometimes but doesn't really change the nature of the video.
So your conversation actually goes:
HN/Reddit: "I would love to just give you the money directly instead of watching ads in exchange for advertizers giving you money."
Companies: "Sure, here's the ad-free version. You have to pay 20 times as much as the advertizers do though."
HN/Reddit: "Wait, what? That's bullshit. Why?"
Companies: "Fuck you, that's why."
Companies: "Sure, here's the ad-free version. You have to pay 20 times as much as the advertissers do though."
anticensor: "OK, then; what if I pay the same amount as for the ad-free one, and you show me twice as many ads as before?"
Companies: "OK, deal."