So today, they sent me a semi-threatening email, saying they were going to cut me off from my account, if I didn't sign up for a monthly rate. keep in mind that a couple of years ago, they were asking for something like $15 a month... Today I locked in a $5 monthly rate... I can live with that. I just have too many pictures, on this forum alone, that I want members to see, rather than the familiar "picture not available" image...
I've also decided to pay for YouTube Premium ($11/99 per month)... I just do too much listening/learning/posting these days, and the ads really get in the way when you're trying to listen to playlist, or watch an extended video/movie... other than these two monthlies, I have NO Amazon Prime, Hulu Netflix, Spotify, Pandora etc... if I paid for all these "convenient" services, I'd be out more than $100-or-more a month! It's the tech-age of nickel-and-diming you to death...
You have to pick your battles more than ever these days...