Those who have been eagerly awaiting for more definite news about YouTube‘s rumored subscription service might just have to wait a bit longer. Sources close to the matter are saying that Google is apparently not yet satisfied with how things are going and will be delaying the launch until at least the first quarter of 2014.
Word of YouTube gaining a premium service, both free and paid, surfaced late last October. Then last week, a teardown of a YouTube Android app update revealed clues pointing to the existence of such a subscription-based service. There were indicators of features such as offline playback and background listening. Many were expecting Google to formally launch the service this year but, aside from the fact that the year is almost over, it seems that Google wants to put in another round of polish first.
It is believed that Google already has enough licenses from record companies and content owners to push the service forward. However, it seems that Google is seeing some minor hurdles that still need to be addressed. One such blocker might be the mix of user-generated content into the service. Whatever other reasons Google may have, it seems that we won’t be seeing this new YouTube service any time soon.
It will also be interesting to see how Google plans to sell the service. After all, it already has one music-related paid service in Google Music All Access. Of course, the YouTube service might be offering videos instead of just music, but for all other use cases, a dedicated music service that integrates with your collection on the cloud might be a more sensible option.
VIA: AllThingsD
