Google-owned online video platform YouTube has introduced two new premium features within its lower-cost subscription tier that were previously only available to streamers who purchased its more-expensive plan.
Starting this week, subscribers of YouTube Premium Lite will be able to download videos for offline playback within the YouTube app and stream content in the background.
Those perks are rolling out in all countries where YouTube Premium Lite is offered; the plan costs $8 per month in the United States and allows streamers to watch most entertainment and creator-driven content without ad interruptions.
The defining feature that now separates YouTube Premium Lite from the more-expensive YouTube Premium plan involves music content. Streaming music within the YouTube Music app, or music videos within YouTube, will still contain advertisements for YouTube Premium Lite subscribers, the company affirmed on Tuesday. Music fans who want to eliminate ad interruptions entirely can upgrade to YouTube Premium for $14 per month.
Offline music downloading is also still reserved only for YouTube Premium subscribers, but the new perks available in the YouTube Premium Lite plan might be a good fit for streamers who watch a significant amount of content from the platform and want to do so without ads, while using another app like Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Music for their premium music needs.
Subscriptions are becoming a bigger focus for YouTube as the company looks at different ways to generate revenue from streamers through multiple pipelines. Advertising earned YouTube more than $11 billion during parent company Alphabet’s most-recent financial quarter (Alphabet owns Google; YouTube is a subsidiary of the Google business), while subscriptions raked in nearly $14 billion.
YouTube’s subscription-related revenue also includes streamers who buy a standalone plan for YouTube Music and cable-like TV service through YouTube TV.
