I know what you're thinking- isn't using YouTube for free music listening already a thing? Why would I pay for it? Youtube is banking on you not wanting to deal with ads. Google confirmed yesterday that their streaming music service will be called YouTube Music Key!
According to The Verge, Music Key is planned to be $7.99 per month and will include a tab on the Youtube homepage that will recommend music videos and playlists based on your browsing history and showcase music that is trending on the site. The service will also stream full-length records and have artist pages with their full albums, all of which will be available from the Youtube mobile app. Users will also have access to Google Play streaming.
The program is currently invite-only and is set to kick off Monday with a six month free beta, after which users will be invited to register for a paid subscription.
Unsigned bands will also be able to get in on the action and have their music monetized and featured within the service.
So what's the downside? You'll still see ads on music that isn't officially posted by labels. I'd imagine the whole "discography" thing and those perks only come along with a label page as well instead of giving all that power to Joe Pirate and his channel. The service seems like an interesting prospect at the basest level but it definitely needs to be beefed up in a big way. It will take a lot of work to convince people to upgrade to the paid structure seeing as though they are so used to streaming for free. I think it's smart that Youtube introduced a free tier as well to get people used to the service and perhaps decide it's worth more to be paid.
