Earlier this week some users in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea were able to start accessing YouTube Music. The new service is set to roll out globally in the coming months. This will replace Google Play Music and fans will have the choice of a free product which, like Spotify, comes with ads, or an ad-free version which is set to be priced at $9.99 a month in the US. Additionally the existing YouTube Red premium service, which is currently only available in the countries listed above, is getting a rebrand too. It is now known as YouTube Premium, will cost $11.99 per month in the US, and will soon be expanding into a glut of European markets including the UK. Don’t worry if you already have a Google Play Music subscription as memberships will automatically transfer to the new service when it becomes available in your area. Google says that YouTube Music will have several advantages over Spotify and Apple Music. YouTube Music claims that its offering will have remixes, covers and live versions of songs that usually don’t make it onto other services. The other big claim is that Google’s AI will use where you are and what you’re doing to provide recommendations. In practice, this means that if your phone knows you’re at the gym, Google’s AI will help the YouTube Music app to suggest personalised songs which suit the activity. YouTube also say that their YouTube Music search will help make discovering songs easier than ever by helping you to discover music based on lyrics or even a description. YouTube say that the new service will also offer: “A reimagined mobile app and brand new desktop player that are designed for music.” YouTube Premium will, as was the case with YouTube Red, also offer exclusive YouTube Originals content along with everything included in a YouTube Music subscription. In addition to providing YouTube Music in more markets in the near future, YouTube says they will also be giving a huge boost to the content available. In a blog post, YouTube said: “More new Originals from around the globe are on the way—featuring comedies, dramas, reality series and action adventure shows from the U.K., Germany, France, Mexico, and more.” This comes as Google integrates the power of its AI across more and more platforms, and the firm’s parent company Alphabet will be hoping that this is what makes the difference after a series of music initiatives that have failed to wrestle the market away from Apple and Spotify.
Google is launching a music streaming service to replace Google Play Music as it makes another attempt to take on Spotify and Apple Music. Earlier this month users in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea were given access to YouTube Music which, like Spotify, comes with ads or as an ad-free version for $9.99 a month. The service will be rolled out to other markets in the coming months. Google’s new service, which has been dubbed “Music,” was first announced last year but its launch date hasn’t yet been announced.