YouTube Music Key: Google’s Upcoming Subscription Service
August 20, 2014
YouTube’s anticipated premium music service will likely cost $10 per month and be called “YouTube Music Key,” although the Google-owned company has yet to confirm. YouTube is already one of the biggest sources for free online music, but since it requires video, it has not taken the place of services such as Beats Music, Rdio or Spotify. The planned premium music service could change that by making the audio easier to access on mobile devices and providing an offline way to hear songs.
“That means you’d be able to play music in the background on iOS and Android devices without much fuss, just like you can already do with other music services,” explains VentureBeat. “The ‘Key’ if you will, to Music Key’s success will most certainly be that YouTube can offer a more well-rounded mix of content from artists you love, such as official produced tracks from albums, live performances, and remixes — music that you can’t necessarily get on Spotify.”
The $9.99/month YouTube Music Key is expected to offer ad-free music, audio-only playback for background listening, screen-off listening, and offline playback. While a launch date has yet to be announced, the service will initially be available as a 30-day free trial.
Reports also suggest that Google is getting ready to rebrand Google Play Music All Access — its current music offering — as Google Play Music Key, which is expected to be included in the monthly subscription fee for YouTube Music Key.
Google has reportedly added more than 20 million tracks specifically for Music Key.
“One of Music Key’s major value propositions is that users will have access not just to official discographies, but to concert footage, covers, and remixes,” reports Android Police. “Play Music already houses some remixes and covers, but YouTube as a platform is significantly more open and workable for derivative content — the platform is much easier to add content to, and user discoverability is substantially different from Play Music. YouTube Music Key also promises to make suggestions for what to watch/listen to based on the other things you watch/listen to on YouTube.”
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