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Does YouTube Premium Pay Creators? What a Premium View Is Worth to a Musician

By Boboy Watson·Last verified September 14, 2026·Getting paid

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I made a three-minute video about whether YouTube Premium is worth paying for, and the comment section turned into the same three questions on repeat. The one I got most wrong on camera was the third one: does my Premium subscription actually help the creators I watch, or is that just marketing? I answered "yes, but indirectly" — I said it was less about direct payout and more about training the algorithm. That is half right and the wrong half. Premium is a direct payout. YouTube says so in plain words on its own creator help page, and it has now published the percentages that will apply from February 2027.

This page is the corrected answer, for the two people who need it: the viewer wondering whether their $15.99 is reaching anyone, and the musician wondering what a Premium view is worth compared with an ad view. Everything here was read from YouTube's own pages on 14 September 2026, US pricing. I am an artist reporting what YouTube publishes and what my own statements show, not a lawyer or an accountant.

Does YouTube Premium pay creators?

Yes. YouTube's FAQ for partners and creators answers the question under the heading "Will creators still be paid with YouTube Premium?":

"Yes. In fact, YouTube Premium gives a secondary revenue stream for creators in addition to what you're already earning today through ads."

Under "How is revenue figured out?" it says:

"Revenue from YouTube Premium membership fees is distributed to video creators based on how much members watch your content. As with our advertising business, the majority of the revenue will go to our partners."

Two things in that sentence matter. It is allocated by watch time, not by views or by ad impressions. A Premium member who watches forty minutes of your channel in a month sends more of their fee your way than one who watches two minutes. And it is fee money, not ad money — a Premium member sees no ads, so an ad auction never happens on their view. Instead their $15.99 is pooled and shared out by watch time across every channel they watched.

That is the mechanism my video got wrong. The indirect effect I described — Premium members tending to watch longer and more consistently — may well exist, but it is not the reason a subscription helps a creator. The reason is that a share of the subscription is paid to the creator.

Where does the money show up, and what has to be switched on?

It arrives in the same place your ad revenue does. YouTube: "Subscription revenue payments will be sent at the beginning of each month, at the same time you would normally get ad revenue payments." It lands through your AdSense for YouTube account, and if you have downloadable reports, the revenue report shows Premium watch time and earnings broken down by video. YouTube Analytics can also split Premium members' views, watch time and estimated earnings out from the rest.

There is no separate Premium switch. What YouTube requires is that you are in the Partner Program and have accepted the relevant contract module:

• Long-form videos: accept the Watch Page Monetization Module and turn on watch page ads.
• Shorts: accept the Shorts Feed Monetization Module.

The page also confirms that you do not pay anything to be included — all videos that are on YouTube with ads are automatically available to Premium members without ads — and that two things Premium members do count toward your Premium watch time even though they look invisible: videos they downloaded (recorded the next time they sign in online) and background play with the screen off or another app open.

What is a Premium view actually worth?

YouTube does not publish a per-view or per-hour Premium rate for the current arrangement, and I am not going to invent one. What it has published, in the Partner Program update that takes effect on 1 February 2027, is two things that were never public before.

First, a comparison: "On average, creators earn more per user from Premium than from ads (based on 2026 performance)."

Second, the size of the pool:

"For Premium Lite, creators will share in a pool representing 60% of net subscription revenue. For Premium views, creators will share in a pool representing 30% of net subscription revenue."

Read those together and the picture is: a Premium member is, on average, worth more to you than an ad-supported viewer, and from February 2027 the share of subscription revenue set aside for creators is 30 cents on the net dollar for full Premium and 60 cents for Premium Lite. The Premium Lite number is higher because that membership costs less and includes less — no YouTube Music, no music content — so a larger share of a smaller fee goes to the creators whose videos are the whole reason the member paid.

What I can add from my own data is the recording-royalty side, which is a different payment for a different right. Across my catalog, streams on YouTube Premium and YouTube Music paid $0.00925 per play across 56,479 plays, and ad-supported YouTube paid $0.00507 across 63,426 plays. That is the money my distributor reports for my released recordings, not my channel's share of subscription fees; the full breakdown is in my per-play royalty study. It points the same direction as YouTube's statement: the subscription money is worth more per play than the ad money, by a wide margin.

What YouTube Premium costs right now

The consumer side, because the value of a Premium view is a slice of this number. From YouTube's US Premium page on 14 September 2026:

YouTube states it has over 125 million Premium members. Full Premium includes YouTube Music Premium, offline downloads, background play, picture-in-picture, higher-bitrate video and audio on eligible content, and ad-free YouTube Kids.

If you have watched my earlier video, you heard me say $13.99 a month. That was the price when I recorded it and it is not the price now. Check the page, not my video, before you quote a number.

The Premium Lite catch for musicians

Premium Lite is the part of this that specifically affects people who upload music, and it is easy to miss because YouTube's marketing describes it as "most videos ad-free".

YouTube's own help page for Lite is explicit about which videos are not covered:

"With Premium Lite, you won't get ads on videos like gaming, fashion, beauty, news, and more. Ads, however, may still appear on music content, Shorts, and when you search or browse."

And on the features:

"These features are not available on Shorts or on music content, such as official/premium music videos, Art Tracks, children's songs, as well as user generated content that includes content from our music partners (for example: covers, dance videos, or a vlog with a popular song in the background)."

So the same $8.99 member is two different viewers depending on what they open:

• Watching your tutorial, vlog or talking-head video — no ads, and the view is paid from the Premium Lite pool (60% of net subscription revenue from February 2027).
• Watching your official music video, an Art Track of your song, or a cover — ads may still run, and the view is paid the way an ad-supported view is paid.

YouTube says Premium Lite is expanding to every country where Premium is available from 1 February 2027, and that Lite earnings appear inside your standard Premium metrics in Analytics rather than as a separate line. For a channel like mine that mixes music videos with tutorials, that means the "Premium" number in Analytics will increasingly be a blend of two different rates, and the music videos will be the part earning the ad rate.

The three questions from my comments, answered properly

"Is it worth it if I barely notice ads anyway?" That is a question about your own time, and only you can price it. What I can tell you is that a full Premium subscription removes ads on every video including music, and Lite does not.

"Is YouTube Music included?" With full Premium, yes; YouTube's plan page says Premium memberships include YouTube Music Premium. With Premium Lite, no.

"Does it actually help creators?" Yes, directly, by watch time, paid monthly with ad revenue. If you want your subscription to help one specific channel, the lever is watch time on that channel — including downloads and background listening, which count.

What I would do as a musician with this information

1. Make sure both modules are accepted in YouTube Studio — Watch Page Monetization and Shorts Feed Monetization — because Premium revenue only flows through modules you have accepted.
2. Look at the Premium split in Analytics rather than the blended RPM. If a large share of your watch time is coming from Premium members, your income is more stable than the ad market, and it is worth knowing that before you read a down month as a failure.
3. Keep releasing music through a distributor as well. The channel share on this page and the recording royalty on your distributor statement are two separate payments for the same song; a Premium member who plays your track in YouTube Music generates the second one, and the five separate YouTube income streams only pay if each is switched on.
4. Stop quoting old prices. Including mine.

I am an artist reporting what YouTube publishes and what my own royalty statements show, not a lawyer or an accountant. YouTube changes its plans, prices and revenue-sharing terms, and the 30% and 60% pools described here are stated for 1 February 2027 onward — every figure on this page was read from support.google.com and youtube.com on 14 September 2026. US pricing throughout. Nothing here is a promise of what any view or subscription will earn you.