After a few weeks of anticipation, Google’s new streaming services are finally here. YouTube Music and YouTube Premium will start rolling out today in the 17 countries that were previously announced. The former is what they’re hoping will be able to go up against Spotify, Pandora, and the likes while the latter is their push for both music and video streaming. In the next few weeks, we’ll see if their big marketing push will result in new sign-ups and good buzz from users. And if the reception is good, hopefully, they will expand both services to other markets as well.
Let’s do a quick recap of what you’ll be able to get when you subscribe to YouTube Music for $9.99 per month or $14.99 per month for a Family Plan.
• You get streaming of albums, singles, remixes, live performances, cover versions, hard-to-find music, and of course since it’s still a YouTube product, you also get music videos. Google has struck licensing deals with the biggest recording companies as well as indie labels, so their library is pretty extensive.
• You get recommendations based on the music that you like and listen to. This is of course a common feature with most music streaming services. But what’s different here is that your home screen dynamically changes because of the music that you listen to and also where your location is and also what you’re doing.
• You have access to thousands of different playlists. Nothing really new here, but maybe you’ll find their music curations better than the other streaming services.
• If you don’t know the title of the song but remember part of the lyrics or even just some searchable terms about the song, YouTube Music will be able to help you find that song. After all, it’s powered by Google so as long as you have the right keywords, you’ll be able to find it.
• Of course you get ad-free and unlimited listening and download your music to listen to them even when you’re offline. In fact, your Offline Mixtape will automatically download the songs for your listening convenience.
You will be able to get YouTube Music Premium for free for three months if you sign up and you’re in a country where it’s now available: US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, YouTube Premium has started rolling out as well. Formerly known as YouTube Red, you’ll get all the YouTube Music Premium features previously mentioned, ad-free viewing across all of YouTube, and also access to original programming in the YouTube Originals which includes new series and movies. You can also get three months free access before you start getting charged $11.99 per month by the 4th month or $17.99 per month for a Family plan.
SOURCE: Google
