Google-owned YouTube crosses 20 million paid subscribers

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai provided recently announced the number of paid YouTube Music and Premium subscribers at Alphabet 2019 Q4 earnings call. The Google-owned video streaming platform reached 20 million YouTube Music, and YouTube Premium paid subscribers.

Additionally, over two million YouTube TV paid subscribers were confirmed in the United States alone, doubling the reported number since March 2019. While the 22 total paying customers seems like a pretty big number, it only amounts to one percent of YouTube’s two billion monthly visitors. Google believes that it can massively expand the reach of YouTube Music.

YouTube also recorded $15 billion in ad revenue in 2019 with $4.17 billion of that revenue generated in Q4 2019. During the earnings call, Pichai told analysts, “On the YouTube side, all our user metrics are very strong. They’re global in nature, and increasingly we see newer verticals beginning to grow as well. So, YouTube is working horizontally well at scale. And for us, it’s making sure, as an ecosystem, it works better so that the content there, the experiences there are improving.”

Google expansion of YouTube Music comes as no surprise as YouTube remains the most popular platform for video streaming. Moreover, YouTube music dethroned Google Play Music services and is now arrive as a default app on all Android devices. And, while Google Play Music hasn’t officially been shut down, the end seems near.