Luckily, I ended up signing up for Google Play Music the day it was released for $7.99/mo and that price has been grandfathered in to every change and price hike they've done. So now I get YouTube Music and YouTube Premium for the same price 12 years later. I don't think I'll ever switch music providers or stop watching YouTube if I get to keep the current price.
I don't remember the last time I saw an ad on YouTube.
I remember seeing a post about it. Maybe you missed it.