YouTube has finally announced its long-rumored ad-free video subscription service for $9.99 a month. However, iPhone users will have to pay $12.99 as it includes Apple’s in-app purchase tax. The premium subscription-based service called ‘YouTube Red,’ essentially allows users to watch everything on YouTube without any ads, and also includes a slew of another service.
In addition, the company has also announced a new dedicated music app called YouTube Music, which includes a full subscription to Google Play Music. It is designed in a way so that users can play their music fast, quickly find their favorite artists or genres and just enjoy. The newly announced YouTube Music gives users the option to both watch and listen to their favorite tracks, as apart from original versions it also includes live performances, remixes and much more.
“YouTube Music will start you on a personal journey through one of the richest music catalogs; just sign in, tap a track you love, and see where your music takes you. And as a special bonus – YouTube Red works with Google Play Music, so subscribe to one and automatically get access to the other,” wrote the company in a blog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL9RetC0ook
Hence, if you are already a Google Play Music subscriber, you’ll be automatically entitled to get a subscription to YouTube Red. While apart from music, YouTube Red subscription also includes the recently launched Twitch competitor YouTube Gaming along with the new YouTube’s kids section.
All in all, a $9.99 monthly rental seems quite a fair deal for customers considering everything the service offers. YouTube Red launches in the US starting October 28, while original content for the service will start rolling out to the service by early next year. The dedicated YouTube Music app is expected to be out ‘soon.’ The company is also offering YouTube Red for a free monthly trial in the US; hence you can try before you decide to spend the money on the service.
Though from the perspective of content creators on YouTube, sadly they’ll be forced to participate in the subscription model. As the company’s executives have confirmed that by publishing videos on YouTube that support advertising, it’ll be a mandatory requirement for creators to take part in the subscription model. If they do not, their content published on YouTube will be marked as private. The company says that this decision comes as they did not want user’s who subscribe to YouTube Red and find out that they cannot watch some videos.
