Report: YouTube preparing to launch paid music video service later this year
Guess offline viewing — which we know is coming — isn’t the only thing Google has planned for YouTube later this year. According to Billboard, Google will soon be launching a premium music video subscription service for YouTube similar to Spotify (except, only with music videos).
Sources say YouTube will offer free viewing of videos along with a premium option for around $10 a month. Premium users will be able to cache music videos for offline viewing/listening, with the added benefit of removing pesky ads. As far as music selection is concerned, labels on board should remain relatively the same as what is currently offered in Google Play Music All Access.
Currently, the only way to watch (official) music videos on YouTube requires sifting through countless covers from wanna-be popstars. But with a dedicated music video section — similar to the Google’s joint venture with Universal Music Group’s Vevo — YouTube could rake in all the advertising profits, instead of having to split them 50/50.
Some of you may remember that music videos were the final puzzle piece missing when it was discovered that offline viewing would soon be coming to YouTube. Couple this with background audio also making its way to YouTube, and you have the makings of a hit music video service. Will people pay the premium monthly YouTube fee in order to pin videos to their device? Probably not many. But the millions of eyes watching these videos is what Google will actually be selling.