We watch a lot of YouTube and unfortunately the amount of ads on the service has become almost unbearable. Good news then with YouTube Premium launching in South Africa, since this service now allows for an ad-free experience, with a number of extra benefits included too. Top of the line for us is background play, seeing that you don’t have to have YouTube open the whole time, while you can also use other apps. This will save users a lot of battery life during the course of the day.

If you sign up for R79.99 per month, you also get access to YouTube Originals, consisting of mostly series and documentaries. You can also download videos to watch later when offline.

Importantly, you also receive YouTube Music Premium included, a new music streaming service that offers music videos, official albums, singles, remixes, live performances, covers and hard-to-find music you can only get on YouTube. There to compete against Apple Music and Spotify, the service provides a Smart Search feature where music lovers can find any song, even if they can’t remember what it’s called. Users can search for descriptions, lyrics and even emojis to find the tracks they want to listen to. Smart Search is available in most languages, including indigenous South African languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa.

If you don’t’ want to sign up for YouTube Premium, but do want the benefits of YouTube Music Premium, which includes background play and ad-free music, then you can do so separately for R59.99 a month. Those who are signed up for Google Play Music will automatically receive access to YouTube Music Premium at their current price. Google notes that nothing is changing with Google Play Music with subscribers still be able to access all of their purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music like always.

When signing up for either YouTube Premium or Music Premium, a free three-month trial is included to get you hooked on what’s on offer. When we signed up for YouTube Premium it did note that we can save money if we cancel our Google Play Music subscription first. It’s a nice touch, however, the announcement came a day after the month’s subscription was already paid.