Not Subscribed to YouTube Premium? No Stress, Because Originals Will Soon be Free

YouTube is making some big changes to the YouTube Premium subscription, YouTube Music and the release of YouTube Originals. The highlight changes include YouTube Originals will be available to view without the subscription to YouTube Premium from September 24, but with some caveats, and that YouTube Music comes with download limits for Android phones. This comes at a time when YouTube Originals are in the same space as content from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and Sony Liv, to name a few. YouTube Music is fighting for its share in a space that already has Apple Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, Amazon Prime Music and Hungama Music, to name a few.

YouTube says that the new YouTube Originals series, movies, and live events released after September 24, 2019 will be made available to non-members to watch for free, with ads. This means you don’t need to have an active subscription to YouTube Premium to view this original content anymore. This content can be identified with the YouTube Premium badge. If you are a Premium member, you can continue to watch YouTube Originals movies, complete seasons of shows, and live streams right when they premiere. There are no in-content adverts for Premium subscribers.

For series which are a part of the YouTube Originals line-up, Premium subscribers will get immediate access to every episode of a new season, while those who do not have a YouTube Premium subscription will have to wait for each new episode to be released. “In most cases, where available, Director’s cuts and bonus footage for YouTube Originals movies and live events will be exclusive to members like you, as well,” says YouTube in a mailer sent to YouTube Premium subscribers.

There are some changes to the YouTube Music subscription as well. YouTube Music remains a part of the larger YouTube Premium subscription and allows for ad-free music streaming on Android and iOS as well. With YouTube Music now, users can turn on automatic downloads for up to 500 songs from Liked Songs, playlists or albums—and this is currently available on Android devices only.

In India, you can sign up for just YouTube Music for Rs 89 per month. Or you can choose the larger YouTube Premium subscription for Rs 129 per month which includes YouTube Music and access to the YouTube Originals content.