YouTube's Music Subscription Service Launches Monday -- Here's What To Expect
YouTube has become a database of just about any music you could want to hear, but its more popular songs require you to watch an ad before you can listen. Tomorrow (November 17), the streaming video site will start to offer a paid subscription alternative for listeners called Music Key.
Like Spotify and Rdio, Music Key will charge a monthly fee in exchange for legal, ad-free music. The promotional price of the service is $7.99 a month; after an initial window, it'll ring up as $9.99, the same price as the highest tier of Spotify subscriptions.
Unlike Spotify, though, Music Key will let you watch videos for free, not just stream audio. You'll be able to get everything that's now licensed on YouTube, plus you'll be able to watch selected music videos even without an internet connection.
If you signed up for the first round of Music Key invites, you might even win a 6-month subscription for free.
This is a big deal for people who rely on YouTube for most of their music but don't want to have to sit through ads anymore. It's also good for artists, who will see some royalty income that's not just based on advertising. We'll have to see if Taylor Swift agrees to keep her videos on the service, though—she did just pull all her music from Spotify.