With Taylor Swift making her exit from Spotify, it looks like its users may also find a reason to take their leave with the introduction of Youtube’s new subscription music service, Music Key.
Music Key will allow users to stream ad-free music videos and even download them for use offline. For a small fee of USD 10 per month, not only will its users get access to free music videos but also to the existing Google Play All Access. Free streaming of music videos and songs? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal so far.
Competitors such as Spotify and Rdio are set for a challenge as Youtube’s Music Key enters the market in the next few days.
According to CNET, Spotify reigns as the world’s most subscribed contender with 50 million active users. However, with Youtube unveiling this long awaited subscription service, all of its existing 1 billion visitors will be the stage to which Music Key launches. That is excluding the already existing users of Google Play All Access.
Watch and listen
Users will now be able to listen to a constant stream of music even with their phones locked and offline. That’s right. All the woes of not being able to lock your phone while a video is playing has been solved.
Tunes will continue to play on mobile devices even if the screen locks or as listeners jump from app to app and the also if user has no Internet connection.
As Christophe Muller, music partnerships director told The New York Times,“We want to give fans more ways to enjoy music on YouTube, but also give artists more opportunities to connect with fans and earn more revenues,”
Youtube also hopes to change and alter its reputation within the music industry. As it already provides a platform for musicians all over the world to feature their music, it is now allowing its users to consume it anywhere and everywhere at almost no cost.
While it may seem oddly similar to Spotify and other music streaming services, Music Key boasts its greatest advantage over its competitors: the availability of music videos.
This means that users will be able to stream ad-free videos of their favourite artists, on loop even and best of all, they don’t even have to be connected to the Internet to do so.
Who gets the first bite?
But hold your horses people. Youtube, which is currently under Google, is no stranger to their preferred pattern of introducing new products through “beta” testing, just like the Google Glass. And for the time being, Music Key will be available by invitation only.
The lucky invitees will experience a free six-month trial before they launch it at a promotional price at USD 7.99 per month. After which its normal charges of USD 10 per month, in which is on par with rival Spotify, will start.
YouTube Music Key will be readily available to users in the United States, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Finland before it is expected official launch to all Youtube users next year. In the next few days, non paying subscribers are able to view album discographies and also get to stream entire music videos and high quality songs for free.
Although Music Key has yet to launch worldwide, it seems as though other major music subscription services have much work to do to plan their next move.
But for now, we too would have to sit tight and listen to our lovingly made playlists on Spotify while waiting for Youtube Music Key to officially launch into the music industry.
Afterall, good things come to those who wait, right?
