Youtube Music launches in the USA
Youtube is entering the music streaming market. The world's third most visited website after Google and Facebook has been offering songs with and without video on Youtube Music in the US since Thursday.
Users can effortlessly choose between the two variants. YouTube Music is aimed primarily at mobile users of YouTube. These users can now turn off videos and let only the music play - and thus not consume much battery or data volume. "Most people who listen to music in the U.S. do so in their cars," said YouTube developer T. Jay Fowler. Selected tracks are stored temporarily on Youtube Music and can thus be listened to even without an Internet connection. On their own "channels," users can have new tracks suggested to them that may suit their tastes and set how experimental they want to be.
In addition to original songs by artists, the site will offer cover versions, concert recordings and amateur contributions from other users. "The magic of YouTube Music is the huge pool of content," Fowler said. "We don't want to be just another competitor, but instead get even more people excited about streaming music." Youtube Music will be available only in the U.S. for now. Customers of the premium service Youtube Red, which was only launched at the end of October, also get Youtube Music for the subscription price of just under ten dollars per month, and free of advertising. For other users, the service is free of charge, but from
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Industry criticizes too many free titles
Streaming is becoming an increasingly important distribution channel for the music industry. Universal Music Group, the world's largest music label, made more than half of its digital revenues from music played directly from the Internet for the first time last quarter. Currently the largest streaming provider is Sweden's Spotify, with 75 million users, 20 million of whom have paid subscriptions. Musicians complain that the method does not offer sufficient revenue opportunities. Youtube itself was criticized even before the launch of its streaming service for having too many tracks on the site for free. In its blog, Youtube most recently announced that the video portal and Google had now transferred more than three billion euros to the music industry. "I want to remind all users that music has its own value, and it's worth paying for," developer Fowler said. (SDA)
