Hi all! A couple of points of clarification.
1. I meant to say that my coworker found that when he streamed local music files on YT Music, it lagged for him to the point that it wasn't convenient, not that he couldn't do it. Perhaps that issue has been fixed, but it was his complaint that stuck out in my mind because I have a lot of local music files I listen to.
2. Yes, I'm aware that these other streaming services charge more overall, and that YouTube is free, and that you can get a lot of value out of no ads and YT Music. I'm very specifically talking about removing ads and how other companies charge less for that one thing, while Google bundles in more content to make people pay a price similar to the overall price of a streaming service (about $15/month).
I'm super glad that y'all get great value out of this service. I'm simply pointing out that part of that value is predicated on whether you are willing to switch music services or already like YT Music. If Google had stuck with Premium Lite and expanded it worldwide, that would've helped all those people who use YT to keep themselves entertained for hours during the work week.
As it is, I know there are plenty of people upset that it costs so much now that the grandfathered price has gone away, that would gratefully pay less for a Lite plan.