Youtube launches subscription service for music videos
The online video portal Youtube is launching a subscription service for music. The trial version of Youtube Music Key costs $7.99, as the subsidiary of Internet giant Google announced on its corporate blog on Wednesday.
Users will be able to listen to music without commercial interruption and also without connecting to the Internet. Initially, selected music lovers will be invited to use the new streaming service, which also provides access to the 30 million songs of the "Google Play Music All" music service.
Later, subscribers will reportedly be able to use the service for $9.99 per month. "YouTube Music Key" is in direct competition with established services such as Spotify and Pandora. Prior to the unveiling of the new music service, YouTube had apparently settled its dispute with independent music labels. As reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday, the video portal reached an agreement with music rights agency Merlin, which represents 20,000 independent labels. The deal was signed a few days ago and gives indie labels more favorable terms than an initial version published in June, the newspaper reported. (SDA)
