20 years & 125 million subscribers later…
Mar 05, 2025 – [[read-time]] minute read
This year YouTube celebrates its 20th anniversary. From a simple video, we’ve grown into the largest music stage in the world, reaching over 100 countries in 80 languages. We’ve accomplished so much together over the last 20 years… but if you think we’re slowing down, you’re dead wrong. I mean, have you ever heard of anyone retiring at 20? 20 is when things get interesting – when “impossible” and “improbable” don’t yet ring a bell. And it’s with this audacity that we plan to make YouTube the best place for every music fan and every artist.
This mission to create the best fan experience fuels a powerful flywheel for artists. Increased discovery, engagement, and community fuel greater promotion and monetization opportunities for artists, attracting even more artists and premium content to the platform. The cycle continues and the results are clear:
- 125 million subscribers: I’m thrilled to announce that with your partnership, we’ve reached 125 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers globally, including trials – an incredible milestone that many laughed off as impossible when we first launched. This momentum is critical to our goal of becoming the No. 1 contributor of revenue to the industry, and we won’t stop until we get there.
- Feeding our subscriptions funnel: Today we also announced the expansion of the Premium Lite pilot to US users. This more-affordable subscription gives people a new way to enjoy most videos on YouTube ad-free (though users may see ads on music content and Shorts, and as they search and browse). But what’s most exciting is that we believe that Premium Lite can benefit our partners, while giving users more choice. And in our early pilots, we saw that more Lite members upgraded to YouTube Premium than Premium members downgraded to Premium Lite
- No. 1 in streaming watch time: For 2 years in a row, Nielsen ranked YouTube the No. 1 streaming platform in watch time in the US, with more than 1 billion hours of content viewed daily on TV sets in the US. Our global reach empowers fans to discover new music on Shorts, which now generates over 70 billion daily views, and on connected TVs – the fastest-growing surface for YouTube and the primary viewing device in the US. The trend of artists delivering premium content directly to the big screen continues to grow, whether through music videos or live performances at iconic events like Coachella. In fact, last year more than 50% of Coachella’s live stream viewership was on connected TVs, and we’ll build on that momentum next month.
Now I’m not here just to pat ourselves on the back. There’s still so much work to do. But I’ve never been more bullish about the technology and talent driving YouTube forward. And I believe our commitment to music fans and artists demands we focus on leading the industry in visual storytelling:
- The rebirth of the music video: As I look forward, I’m foreseeing a renaissance of the music video. It’s not about having the biggest production budget; it’s about sharing authentic hero content that music fans can’t unsee. It’s about using the artist’s most influential asset – the music video – and cutting through the tidal wave of clutter and choice. Think about the iconic music videos that have shaped our culture. These weren’t simply videos; they were cultural moments. And they didn’t just break songs – they broke artists.
- The potential of AI: To help bring these visual stories to life across all YouTube formats and surfaces, we also want to make it easier for every artist and fan to create. That’s why we’re investing heavily in AI tools like Dream Screen in Shorts which is now powered by Veo 2, Google DeepMind’s newest state-of-the-art generative video model. With this new integration, artists and fans can create standalone video clips for their Shorts, broadening the horizons to tell visual stories with music.
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I know there’s uncertainty in the world and in our industry, but in my 9 years at YouTube and 40 years in the business, I’ve learned that uncertainty and challenges signal great opportunity. I cannot wait to see what the next 20 years of YouTube holds.
With love and respect,
Lyor Cohen
Global Head of Music, YouTube