YouTube Introduces YouTube Music with Premium Subscription Options

• Google is going to head to head with popular music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music with YouTube Music.
• The new service from Google will be available from May 22.
• The service will debut in the United States and four other countries before its availability expands to 14 other countries.

YouTube Music was unveiled by Google today as the tech giant’s newest entertainment offering. The new service will offer users the chance to stream music for free with its ad-supported business model. The service will also include an ad-free paid option. The service will be available from May 22 in the US, Mexico, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The service will expand to 14 other countries in the second stage of the rollout.

With Google focusing its resources on artificial intelligence, AI makes a big impact for Google users who will use YouTube Music. With YouTube and Google Play Music information already available, Google can use the data to make personalized lists for users. The service will also offer recommendations based on weather, time, location and other interesting filters.

Image Courtesy of Google

YouTube is also rebranding its YouTube Red service as YouTube Premium to include both music and video content. The Premium service will be available for $9.99 a month if you want only YouTube Music and $11.99 if you want both video and music content.

Users not only get access to exclusive video content from YouTube originals, but all YouTube content becomes ad-free, and users can download videos directly to their devices for offline access without any restrictions.

One of the most requested features from mobile users is the ability to continue streaming video content with the app in the background, which has been made available by Google in the new service. With services like Spotify and Apple Music already established in the industry, it is going to be an uphill battle for Google to solidify YouTube Music’s presence. YouTube is partnering with top YouTubers to offer exclusive content under the YouTube premium banner. Once the new service goes live, YouTube Red will no longer be a thing, and all subscribers of YouTube Red will be moved to the YouTube Premium subscriber pool.