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What is YouTube Red for?

Published in Subscription Service 2 mins read

YouTube Red was a subscription service primarily designed to provide an ad-free viewing experience across all videos on the YouTube platform.

The Evolution of YouTube's Premium Offering

Originally launched as a successor to a service called Music Key, which focused solely on ad-free access for music content, YouTube Red expanded its scope significantly. Its core purpose was to eliminate advertisements from all videos available on YouTube, allowing subscribers to watch content without interruption. This marked a significant enhancement in the user experience by removing the frequent commercial breaks.

Key Features of YouTube Red

Beyond its primary function of ad-free streaming, YouTube Red offered several other compelling features to its subscribers, enhancing the overall YouTube experience:

  • Ad-Free Viewing: Enjoy millions of videos without any pre-roll, mid-roll, or banner advertisements.
  • Background Playback: Videos would continue playing even when you navigated away from the YouTube app or locked your device's screen, making it ideal for listening to music or podcasts.
  • Offline Downloads: Subscribers could save videos and playlists directly to their mobile devices, allowing them to watch content later without an internet connection.
  • Access to YouTube Originals: YouTube Red provided exclusive access to a growing library of original series and movies produced by YouTube itself.

From YouTube Red to YouTube Premium

YouTube Red was eventually rebranded and relaunched as YouTube Premium, offering an expanded set of features while retaining all the core benefits of its predecessor. YouTube Premium continues to provide ad-free viewing, background playback, and offline downloads. Additionally, a YouTube Premium subscription now includes full access to YouTube Music Premium, offering ad-free music streaming, downloads, and background play specifically for music content. This transition aimed to consolidate YouTube's premium offerings under a single, comprehensive subscription service for both video and music enthusiasts.