YouTube is planning on introducing a music service next year in March. The service will be paid. Apparently, according to the people associated with the matter, this is the third attempt by the company Alphabet Inc. to compete with other music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
YouTube to Launch New Paid Music Subscription Service in March 2018
This new service of YouTube will be greatly helpful in appeasing record-industry executives who need more revenue from YouTube by streaming music. According to people, one of the world’s three major record labels, Warner Music Group has already signed on. Apparently, these people asked not be to identified for “leaking” personal talks. Other two companies that YouTube is in talks with include Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, and Merlin.
Paid services started by Spotify and Apple Music have stimulated a recovery in the music business. The recovery is initiated after almost 20 years. This service by YouTube with make the growth more significant since more than a billion users each month just use YouTube to listen to their favourite songs. Music is one of the most popular genres on YouTube.
Although, YouTube hasn’t had as much of success as Apple and Spotify in actually convincing people to subscribe to their paid services. Not like they didn’t try. Google introduced audio-only streaming service in 2011 named Google Play Music. They launched YouTube Music Key in 2014 allowing subscribers ad-free music videos which were morphed into YouTube Red last year allowing users to watch any video without ads.
The new service will be called “Remix“. It will include Spotify-like-on-demand streaming. YouTube has also reached out to artists to help them promote their new service. YouTube has gone through many problems to reach their target. Other than signing deals with Universal and Sony, it is also in talks with Vevo looming.
Although the music industry wanted Red to be more into music, YouTube positioned it as a site for original video projects. To help oversee their music operations, YouTube hired former Warner Music executive Lyor Cohen past year. He’ll serve as a liaison to record business.
