My reasons:

• I don’t want a YouTube account, that just makes it easier for Google to track me
• premium costs too much relative to how much I use it (Nebula is more reasonable, which I do pay for)
• I can support my favorite creators in other ways (merch, patreon, etc)

I don’t pirate my other media. I buy movies and TV shows and rip them to my media server, I buy lots of video games both physical and digital, and I buy books if my library doesnt have it or I want to keep it on my shelf. I’m not against paying for things, I’m against my privacy being violated.

I watch a few hours of content a week, and I’d be happy cutting down a bit. I don’t follow any of the big names, rarely listen to music, and really only watch videos from a handful of channels, most of which are a waste of time anyway. If Google blocked my ad blocker, I’d be fine just not watching YouTube anymore.

$14 is too much, I think $5 is about as much as I’d be willing to pay, or $1/channel. Give me that and I’ll consider signing up, despite my misgivings about Google.