How much will Vietnamese users pay for YouTube Premium service?

DNHN - Since April 12 morning, users in Vietnam have been able to subscribe to YouTube Premium, a service that allows users to watch videos uninterrupted by advertisements.

Many Vietnamese smartphone users were able to easily register for the YouTube Premium service on April 12 morning.

Users need only access the YouTube application's settings, select the Premium service, and follow the on-screen instructions to register for the YouTube Premium service.

YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red) is the paid version of Google's video-sharing and viewing platform YouTube. Members pay a monthly or annual fee to view all videos on the platform without seeing advertisements, while still supporting the creator. Members of YouTube Premium can also download videos for offline viewing on mobile devices. Moreover, YouTube Premium account holders can listen to music even when the phone's screen is off.

The subscription also includes YouTube Music Premium, Google's online music platform with a large library of songs, the ability to group by topic, and the ability to learn the user's preferences to make recommendations. This feature is comparable to Apple Music or Spotify, but there is no separate application for macOS and Windows; only iOS and Android are supported. PC users must access YouTube Music Premium via a web browser. To begin, premium account holders must navigate to music.youtube.com in the Chrome browser, then click the three vertical dots icon (Menu) in the upper right corner of the screen > select Settings > YouTube Music to have the program download its windowed version. The system will display an "app version" of YouTube Music Premium in a separate window so as not to interfere with the browser or other concurrently running applications.

The premium service price for individual customers in Vietnam is 79,000 VND/month, the student package is 49,000 VND/month, and the family package is 149,000 VND/month - subscription option can be shared by group owner for 5 other members (maximum of 6 people) and are frequently chosen due to their lower cost than purchasing individually. A month of Premium service for 1 person in the family package costs less than 24,900 VND, as opposed to 79,000 VND.

However, the cost of YouTube Premium packages in Vietnam varies by payment method. iOS trading fees are approximately 25% higher than those of other operating systems. Google charges a monthly fee of 105,000 VND for the iPhone Premium package for individual users and 195,000 VND for a family package with six accounts.

Users access youtube.com/premium on their computers to select a service package that meets their specific requirements. Each account will receive a one-month free trial of the service before the monthly subscription fee is charged.

Currently, the service only accepts international debit card (Debit Card) and credit card (Credit Card) payments and does not accept any other forms of payment. After entering their card information (Debit or Credit), users were able to access the Premium package in Vietnam without the need for a VPN (a virtual private network).

Some users have registered for the YouTube Premium feature, according to comments on social networks, but many other users claim they cannot register for this feature.

According to "business" professionals who buy and sell accounts, YouTube services, Netflix..., YouTube Premium, and YouTube Music Premium services will begin operating in Vietnam on April 12, initially to limit the number of registered users, and will launch officially in Vietnam the following week.

Google's representative in Vietnam has no official information about this service at this time.

Minh Anh (t/h)