Seeing ads in YouTube Premium and YouTube Music? You're not alone [Update]

By Harish Jonnalagadda
last updated

YouTube Premium on a Galaxy S9
YouTube Premium on a Galaxy S9 (Image credit: Joe Maring / Android Central)

Updated 11:47 AM ET: At 5:36 AM, the Team YouTube Twitter account announced that it had resolved the issue and that everything is now back to normal. Carry on.

YouTube Premium and YouTube Music are very straightforward: you pay $12 or $10 a month to get ad-free videos and songs, offline downloads, and background playback. But things never are what they seem to be, as both services are being impacted by a bug that's breaking premium access for subscribers.

Hundreds of users on Reddit and Google's community pages are complaining about ads and lack of background playback. Thankfully, YouTube is aware of the issue and is working on a resolution.

In the meantime, a quick workaround is to disconnect any Bluetooth or wired headphones and restart the app. Doing so seems to resolve the issue for the time being while YouTube works on a more permanent fix.

Harish Jonnalagadda
Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.

5 Comments
  • It's not like it matters. "Ad-free" YouTube has slowly been becoming just as ad-riddled as the free version. I'm not even sure what I'm paying for anymore. YouTubers cram 1-3 infomercials in every one of their 10 minute videos and now there are "merchandise ads" for channels that allow them to bypass the usual YouTube ads and aren't blocked by ad-blockers either. So, while I don't have to watch stupid pre-roll ads or look at page ads, I'm still getting bobarded by them. Might as well cancel premium and just use an adblocker. Or write off YouTube entirely. It will only get worse from here.
  • Hmmm... I don't recall seeing any YouTube platform ads while logged into the premium account that came with my Google Play Music subscription. But, of course, if a content-provider, himself, inserts adverts into the content, I don't imagine there's anything YT can do about that. But then, I haven't really found myself drawn to the sorts of YT channels/content providers who do that, anyhow. That said, as a Google Play Music subscriber since Feb 2014, I've remained TOTALLY UNIMPRESSED by YouTube Music. It's a simplistic toy compared to the search, playlisting, robo-radio stuff, and, especially, the queue management tools available in Google Play Music. I've used 8 different subscription streaming services since 2005 and GPM is, by a stretch, the best, most sophisticated and flexible -- from many angles. What it has NOT had is a parent company that has a SINGLE CLUE as to how to market it.
  • Some of the YouTube channels offer "merchandise" and they are allowed to put a banner advertising said merchandise right under the description. Several channels in my subscriptions do this and it's really just an ad, no different than the ones I'm paying to get rid of.
  • I have never seen any kind of ad on premium.
  • I see more ads here on Advertising Central than YouTube.