According to multiple sources, YouTube is looking to announce a fancy new subscription service, allowing users to check out on-demand music videos on both desktop and mobile platforms. As you should already know, Google recently launched a music subscription service earlier this year at Google I/O, named All Access. YouTube stated earlier this year that they did have a product to unveil later this year, so it is starting to look like a subscription service could be it.
Spoken from those briefed on the plans, YouTube will have two tiers for the service; a free tier and a paid tier. The free tier should be on-demand access to full songs, but will come coupled with advertisements, which is kind of like what YouTube already is. The paid tier will be the same on-demand access across all platforms, but you can finally kiss ads goodbye.
Billboard, who broke the news, summed up the paid version like this:
Having a paid tier, with all the required licenses for a premium on-demand product, gives YouTube more flexibility in packaging and selling music with fewer restrictions on what it can do with the music.
On a personal note, I remember the days when random users would just upload homemade videos onto the web, and it was a great source of entertainment. YouTube has evolved quite a bit since then, and it is now a money-generating supermachine. Partnered with Vevo and other services, it seems that a monthly subscription service would be the next logical step for the content provider.
There is no word on pricing yet, but you can expect it to be around $10 a month according to sources.
Thoughts on paying a premium for music videos?
Via: Billboard
I would only be interested if we can download music videos in 1080p HD, since there is no service that exists that sells HD music videos.
Would be great if the entire music industry wasn’t complete trash right now…I’m not paying for a bunch of dubstep and pop unless it’s already included in the Google Play Music All Access subscription I currently have. {{-_-}}
Does anybody know how to get rid of the chromecast icon in the middle of the screen when I’m watching videos? Very intrusive. I don’t even own a chromecast
Same issue here. Nexus 4 user…
Pretty sure I figured it out. It’s Blue tooth. Completely back out of app. Turn off bluetooth. And clear it from most recent. Then restart app and you should be good.
would love it if it would replace my crappy Netflix subscription.
nothing can top netflix.
I don’t understand how this will work unless they remove every single music video ever uploaded & then charge the premium to access it. How does this affect indie or unsigned artists? Spoofs & covers? Better yet, how does this replace record label, MTV, & VH1 websites that let you browse music videos for free?
not to mention, Yahoo still has a free music video service, I used to watch/ listen before YT was popular back in 99-02
No. I only see this as a step towards controlling copyright violations. If there are legitimate sources for content with lots of hits, people will be less likely to upload pirated material. Sooner or later there won’t be nearly as much pirated material and it will be much easier to police, not that I think they’re going to get there any time soon.
Doubt its related but a bugfix update of UTube just hit the play store as well …
This should be good for people on tiered data plans…
This is a service they pretty much already offer for free. Why the sudden change to make $$$? Googles billions of profit not enough? Lol
has anyone seen the news where google may bid on the rights to broadcast NFL games? if this happens i could see this being extremely disruptive to traditional providers. how many people pay for cable just for NFL?
I hope they do it. Back in August, I signed a two-year contract with DirecTV because they offered free Sunday Ticket. When September rolled around, the games were locked out. I called, they said “we have no record of having offered you that.” I went back and forth with them for 30 minutes. Even asked if they could retrieve the recorded third-party confirmation, because it had all been confirmed there. Of course, they couldn’t get that. I don’t know what the point of it is then. So I signed away all leverage and can’t get out of my contract unless I fork over $450 ETF. I ditched Verizon after 12 years because I was done with contracts. I have always advocated for DirecTV. Loved them. Then they lied to me. Guess that’s the problem with contracts — you never know when you’re going to get effed. GO GOOGLE!
I just want Google Play Movies to come out with a Netflix-type service, not paying for individual movies and TV shows…
That would be great!
Yeah, that would rock. I’d be done with Netflix forever. {{-_-}}
Can you say niche?
I wonder if Google will provide free access to this if you already have a Play Music All Access subscription. That would be the cat’s meow!
Or the bee’s knees!
Tim/Kellen – are you gonna be at the Google event tonight and/or live-blogging it?
I’d like to know too please
My $10 is going to continue to go to Rdio.
Who want’s / is asking for this? I go to youtube for the occasional song, but I usually could care less about the video. Sometimes the music video makes me hate the song.
You really need to get out more. Literally billions of people, I’d wager.
I would take that wager. Worldwide estimates of people with internet access is 2.7 billion. It is unlikly over 2/3 people in the world who have access to the innerwebz would part with $10 a month to watch music videos on demand.
Fair enough. Millions then. Still, I think there’s probably a large market for this.
Maybe I need to get out less, since I clearly don’t spend that much time on Youtube! 🙂
As a matter of fact, everytime I see an article about a youtube update there’s usually someone griping over the fact you can’t switch out of the app and keep listening to the music. 90% of the time I don’t care about the video, I just want to listen to the music in the background.
And sometimes the music video takes forever and a day to load. Even on Verizon’s 4G LTE. {{-_-}}
Damn it. No more free videos with Gannam Style and twerking =((
should be included with all access.
Yea I was gonna say the same thing.
Do people watch music videos on youtube for the song or do they actually watch the video?
When on youtube, I’m looking for a specific song, could care less about the video. The only video I care to watch with the music are the ones that show the words, because the way singers sing its hard sometimes to decipher what the words are.
I would pay $10 a month to never see another AD on youtube
Or just install Adaway…
can’t you skip most of them after a few seconds? I wish I could do the same for pandora.
I subscribed to Hulu Plus for a month. Still had unbearable ads. I’d pay an extra $10 a month OVER their regular sub fee just to get rid of them.
I’ll raise you $5 extra monthly. {{-_-}}
I don’t understand. YouTube already has all the music you could possibly need. What is this changing? Are all those videos going behind a pay-wall? Is there going to be a different set of videos that will be paid (with a free-with-ads version) and then the videos that are there now will still be there… because that is clearly not a pointless plan? Is what YouTube is now going away, in favor of this subscription version?
At least here in Gemany I would be happy about this. It’s always annoying when anyone who publishes a Video on Youtube thinks that it might be a good idea to use copyright protected music in the background – these are all blocked in Germany. Google pays already in many countries some kind of fee so most videos can be watched with ads, but in some countries like Germany they want more money from Google for the artists so we can’t even see those videos.
Yea, there will probably be no ads, and maybe they allow you to save it as offline audio giving the same thing that spotify and rdio offer plus music videos as well.