YouTube surpasses 80 million subscribers globally

YouTube has surpassed 80 million music and premium subscribers globally, including those in trials.

This is a 30 million member increase from the 50 million YouTube announced last year.

YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen said this is a monumental moment for music on the platform, the subscribers and artists.

“YouTube’s twin-engine of revenue, subscriptions and ads, is the real deal,” Cohen said in a statement.

In September, YouTube announced a Sh723.3 billion ($6 billion) revenue contribution to the music industry with 30 per cent coming from user-generated content.

We have reached 80 million by building a subscription service with the music industry that puts fans first,” Cohen said.

He said they reached 80 million subscribers through YouTube Premium, putting the fans first, global partnerships, and testing, learning, and repeating.

YouTube Premium is all of YouTube and YouTube Music, add-free and available to play in the background or offline, on your mobile device, or on your TV.

“We have now leveled it up further with features like afterparties, which grant exclusive access to live stream content,” Cohen said.

The YouTube Music app is home to more than 100 million official songs with an expansive catalog of live performances and remixes.

Cohen added that premium makes it easy for fans to enjoy every music format, whether long-form music videos, short-form music videos, live streams, or podcasts.

“We are excited about building the future of music with our artists and audience,” he said.