YouTube是世界上最大的公共流媒体平台。任何人都可以创建一个频道（在线技术提示(Online Tech Tips)也有一个YouTube 频道(YouTube channel)！），制作内容然后与全世界分享。YouTube 已经成长为对许多人来说可行的商业模式(business model)，让他们在做自己喜欢的事情的同时赚取大量金钱 。(substantial)
钱从哪里来？广告！没错，几乎每个YouTube 视频都显示一个或(YouTube video)多个(s right)广告，收入流向创作者和 YouTube(creator and YouTube)本身。然而，现在，YouTube Premium订阅服务(subscription service)已经完全改变了这种动态。
但什么是 YouTube Premium？你应该注册吗？
什么是 YouTube Premium？
YouTube Premium是一种类似于Netflix 或 Amazon Prime Video的付费(Netflix or Amazon Prime Video)订阅服务(subscription service)。但是，与(unlike)这些服务不同，您可以免费访问YouTube 上(YouTube)的大部分视频。那么，如果您为这种增强的YouTube 体验支付(YouTube experience)要价(asking price)，您究竟能得到什么？
这些是主要特点：
- 没有广告。
- YouTube 原创。
- 应用程序中的YouTube(YouTube)下载和后台播放(background playback)。
- 访问 YouTube Music Premium。
- 可下载的无广告YouTube Kids。
为什么其中一些功能物有所值可能并不立即显而易见，但我们将解开每一个功能以说明为什么它们是（或不是）获得YouTube Premium的好理由。
无广告的 YouTube 体验(The Ad-Free YouTube Experience)
在我们看来，这是迄今为止成为YouTube Premium 订阅者的(YouTube Premium subscriber)第一(number one)大理由。使用 YouTube 而不会受到广告的持续攻击是一个启示。
如果您只看偶尔的剪辑，这可能不是您真正注意到的。然而，科技博客世界中的大多数人都是(tech blogging world)YouTube的重度用户，在长视频(longform video)的第三、第四和第五次广告中断之后，大多数人都会咬牙切齿！一旦您体验了完全没有广告的YouTube，就很难再回头。
如果YouTube广告真的让您感到厌烦，则无需进一步阅读。对您而言，这项服务已经物超所值。
原创内容(Original Content)
就原创内容而言，YouTube 的产品吸引力较小。当然，这在很大程度上是个人喜好问题，但我们在“YouTube Originals”下的少量精选内容中 没有找到任何“必看”内容。(” content)
如果您想确切了解所提供的内容，维基百科(Wikipedia)上有一个YouTube Originals分类列表(categorized list)，但它并不是特别长。
使用 YouTube 应用下载视频(Downloading Videos With The YouTube App)
根据您在世界上的居住地，您可能已经能够使用YouTube移动应用下载YouTube视频。(YouTube)YouTube不久前免费向发展中国家开放了此功能，但如果您不在这些指定国家/地区之一，则必须为该特权付费。
作为YouTube Premium 订阅者(YouTube Premium subscriber)，您现在会在YouTube 应用(YouTube app)中的视频下方看到一个下载按钮(download button)。您可以使用此按钮将视频下载到手机或平板电脑的本地存储中。这对于在WiFi上下载视频然后稍后保存您的移动计划数据非常有用。如果您想在飞机上或地铁上观看视频，它也很有用。
您只需每 30 天连接一次有效的互联网连接(internet connection)即可更新下载视频的许可证，因此您可以在野外或任何其他长时间没有互联网的情况下使用此功能。这是一个很好的功能，但将它放在付费墙后面确实让人觉得YouTube有点厚颜无耻。
让视频在后台播放(Letting Videos Play In The Background)
说到厚脸皮，付费YouTube Premium可以让您在切换到其他应用程序的同时在后台收听YouTube 视频。(YouTube videos)几乎就像是播客一样。
这是YouTube没有真正理由将其隐藏在付费墙后面的另一个功能，除了扩大高级福利列表。任何人会从这个功能中获得多少使用(use anyone)还取决于您观看的内容类型。如果必须切换到邮件应用程序或浏览器(mail app or browser)，大多数人宁愿暂停视频。
YouTube Music Premium 是一笔惊人的交易(YouTube Music Premium Is An Amazing Deal)
音乐流媒体现在很可能是未来，并且有很多提供商可供选择。Apple Music、Spotify 和 Pandora只是(Spotify and Pandora)音乐流媒体游戏(music streaming game)中的三大巨头。
YouTube Music Premium提供自己的专用移动应用程序，并在我们测试过的三星电视(Samsung TV) YouTube应用程序中拥有自己的部分。(YouTube)在桌面系统上，目前只有 Web 界面可用，因此音乐下载仅限于移动设备。
与Apple Music等行业领导者相比，我们的第一印象是YouTube Music总体上缺乏一些润色，但它是一个非常好的流媒体平台，并且包含在YouTube Premium的价格中。
这使得取消现有的仅限音乐的服务变得很诱人，转而使用包含Music Premium的(Music Premium thrown)YouTube Premium。您可以(can )将YouTube Music Premium作为独立服务(standalone service)获得，但这只会为您节省 2 美元。
包括 YouTube 儿童(YouTube Kids Is Included)
关于YouTube 上的儿童(YouTube)内容(s content)（和假儿童内容(s content)）存在很多争议，这也是YouTube Kids 应用(YouTube Kids app)存在 的部分原因。
如果您有孩子并且他们观看YouTube Kids，那么您会很高兴知道他们也不必看到广告。考虑到他们看不到的所有玩具广告，这实际上可以为您节省更多的钱。
YouTube Premium 的费用是多少？(What Does YouTube Premium Cost?)
YouTube Premium的价格因地区而异，但在北美(North America)，单用户订阅费用为 11.99 美元，家庭计划(family plan)费用为 17.99 美元，其中可以包括您家中的五个人。每个人都有自己的YouTube Premium 和音乐订阅(YouTube Premium and Music subscription)，因此可以节省大量资金。
如前所述，仅音乐选项为 9.99 美元，这对几乎所有人来说绝对没有意义，除了一个想要音乐但从不观看YouTube的人。
YouTube Premium 适合哪些人？(Who Is YouTube Premium Right For?)
总的来说，我们认为YouTube Premium代表物超所值，尤其是在家庭计划(family plan)方面。它是否值得你的(your )钱是一个不同的问题。如果您符合这些用例之一，您可能需要认真看待YouTube Premium ：
- 您每天都在观看 YouTube。
- 您通常没有互联网或昂贵的移动数据。
- 您观看可以收听的内容。
- 您想收听 YouTube 的海量音乐库而不受广告打扰。
这些用例中的任何一个都足以让YouTube Premium上的价格标签(price tag)物有所值。事实上，你甚至不必放下钱来试一试。在撰写本文时，YouTube提供了一个月的试用期，因此您可以亲自了解这种高端的YouTube 体验(YouTube experience)是否是您想要承诺的。
What Is YouTube Premium and Is It Worth It?
YouTube is the biggest public streaming platform in the world. Anyone can start a channel (Online Tech Tips has a YouTube channel too!), make content and then share it with the world. YouTube has grown into a viable business model for many people, letting them earn substantial amounts of money while doing something they love.
Where does the money come from? Advertisements! That’s right, almost every YouTube video displays one or more adverts, with the revenue going to both the creator and YouTube itself. Now however, the YouTube Premium subscription service has changed that dynamic completely.
But what is YouTube Premium? Should you sign up for it?
What Is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium is a paid subscription service similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. However, unlike those services you can get access to most of the videos on YouTube for free. So what exactly do you get if you pay the asking price for this souped-up YouTube experience?
These are the main features:
- No advertising.
- YouTube Originals.
- YouTube downloads and background playback in the app.
- Access to YouTube Music Premium.
- Ad-free YouTube Kids with downloads.
It might not be immediately obvious why some of these features may be worth the money, but we’ll unpack each one to demonstrate why they are (or aren’t) a good reason to get YouTube Premium.
The Ad-Free YouTube Experience
In our opinion, this is by far the number one reason to be a YouTube Premium subscriber. Using YouTube without the constant assault of advertising is a revelation.
If you only watch the occasional clip this might not be something you really notice. However, most of us in the tech blogging world are very heavy YouTube users and after the third, fourth and fifth ad-break in a longform video most people will be grinding their teeth! Once you’ve experienced YouTube with no advertising at all, it’s incredibly hard to go back.
If YouTube adverts really annoy you, there’s no real need to read further. For you this service is already worth it.
Original Content
What’s less appealing is YouTube’s offering when it comes to original content. This is of course largely a matter of personal taste, but we didn’t find any “must watch” content among the slim pickings filed under “YouTube Originals”.
There’s a categorized list of YouTube Originals on Wikipedia if you want to see exactly what’s on offer, but it’s not a particularly long one.
Downloading Videos With The YouTube App
Depending on where you live in the world, you may already have the ability to download YouTube videos using the YouTube mobile app. YouTube opened this feature up to developing nations for free a while ago, but if you aren’t in one of these designated countries, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.
As a YouTube Premium subscriber, you’ll now see a download button under a video in the YouTube app. You can use this button to download the video to your phone or tablet’s local storage. This is useful for downloading videos while on WiFi and then saving your mobile plan data later. It’s also useful if you want to watch videos on a plane or in the subway.
You only need an active internet connection every 30 days to renew the licence on downloaded videos, so you can use this feature while out in the wilderness or any other situation where you won’t have internet for long periods of time. It’s a neat feature, but it does feel a little cheeky of YouTube to put this behind a paywall.
Letting Videos Play In The Background
Speaking of cheekiness, paying for YouTube Premium allows you to listen to YouTube videos in the background while switching to other apps. Almost as if it were a podcast.
This is another feature where YouTube has no real reason to hide it behind the paywall, other than to bulk up the list of premium benefits. How much use anyone would get out of this feature also depends on the sorts of content you watch. Most people would prefer to pause their videos if they have to switch to their mail app or browser.
YouTube Music Premium Is An Amazing Deal
Music streaming is now most likely the future and there are plenty of providers to choose from. Apple Music, Spotify and Pandora are but three big names in the music streaming game.
YouTube Music Premium offers its own dedicated mobile app and had its own section in the Samsung TV YouTube app we tested it with. On desktop systems only a web interface is available at the moment, so music downloads are restricted to mobile devices.
Compared to industry leaders such as Apple Music, our first impressions are that YouTube Music lacks some polish overall, but it’s a perfectly good streaming platform and it’s included in the price of YouTube Premium.
That makes it tempting to cancel an existing music-only service in favor of getting YouTube Premium with Music Premium thrown in. You can get YouTube Music Premium as a standalone service, but that only saves you $2.
YouTube Kids Is Included
There have been plenty of controversies regarding children’s content (and fake children’s content) on YouTube, which is partly why the YouTube Kids app exists.
If you have children and they watch YouTube Kids, then you’ll be happy to know that they also won’t have to see advertising. This may actually save you even more money given all the toy adverts they won’t see.
What Does YouTube Premium Cost?
The pricing of YouTube Premium varies from one region to the next, but in North America you’ll pay $11.99 for a single-user subscription and $17.99 for a family plan which can include five people in your household. Each person gets their own YouTube Premium and Music subscription, so it’s a massive saving.
As mentioned a little earlier, the music-only option is $9.99, which makes absolutely no sense for virtually everyone except for the one person who wants music, but never watches YouTube.
Who Is YouTube Premium Right For?
In general, we think that YouTube Premium represents excellent value for money, especially when it comes to the family plan. Whether it’s worth your money is a different question. If you fit one of these use cases, you probably want to look at YouTube Premium seriously:
- You watch YouTube on a daily basis.
- You often have no internet or expensive mobile data.
- You watch content that can be listened to instead.
- You’d like to listen to YouTube’s vast music library ad-free.
Any one of these use cases are good enough to make the price tag on YouTube Premium worth it. In fact, you don’t even have to put down money to give it a try. At the time of writing YouTube is offering a one-month trial, so you can see for yourself whether this higher-end YouTube experience is something you’d want to commit to.
