That popular workaround for sharing a YouTube Premium family plan with friends and relatives in different homes is now squarely in Google's crosshairs. A new wave of enforcement has begun, with subscribers reporting they've received emails warning that their account access will be suspended. The ultimatum is clear: confirm all members live at the same address within 15 days, or lose your premium perks. And now that's something you should watch out for, whether you plan to stream videos or listen to music with ads, both of which you can still do if the service is paused.
While the "same household" requirement has always been in the terms of service, this recent crackdown signals a major shift from passive policy to active practice. For anyone ignoring the notice, the consequence is a swift downgrade back to YouTube's ad-supported tier, a jarring change for those used to ad-free viewing and offline downloads.
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A YouTube spokesperson told CNET, "Our family plan policy hasn't changed and we are continuously enforcing it. You can learn more about the YouTube family plan here."
On its support page, YouTube says that an account manager can add up to five family members in a household to their Premium membership. But, the post says, "Family members sharing a YouTube family plan must live in the same household as the family manager." Groups can only be changed once every 12 months.
YouTube has been testing a two-household plan that would offer a discount for those who want to share, but that plan is not yet available in the US.
YouTube offers a one-month trial for its Premium and Music accounts, which cost $23 per month.
Subscription sharing crackdowns
YouTube joins other paid services that have started to enforce policies to cut down on the sharing of premium services.
Disney Plus and Netflix were among the services that began discouraging, and then actively blocking or restricting accounts they find are sharing passwords. Max joined them this year, introducing an $8 fee for those who want to share their account with one other person.
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