YouTube Music Key Launched

YouTube Music Key Launched

You Tube recently introduced its long-awaited YouTube Music Key, an upgrade offering high-quality audio and optional features requiring a monthly fee of $7.99. Among the features offered by the paid service is the removal of ads that are always present in all YouTube content.

YouTube put in more than a year of work in the development of the upgrade, which is a compromise with the music industry. This industry has viewed YouTube as a promotional platform with low royalty payouts. One billion unique users visit the website very month, and among its biggest attractions are music videos.

The partnership director of YouTube, Christopher Muller, revealed that YouTube aims provide opportunities for artists to connect with their fans while earning more revenues. The YouTube Music Key will be offered initially in the United States, Britain and some European countries.

The service will initially be available on an “invitation only” basis and will be available for other users in the coming year. Accessing the service will be free of charge in the first six months before the $7.99 monthly fee is charged. The fee for people without invitations will be at $9.99 per month.

The music catalog of the website will be upgraded for all users as part of the launch of the new service. Complete albums and static video files will be offered on the website. Paying users will receive two additional features, the capability of playing songs in the background while another app is used and saving songs.

Paying users will also have access to Google Music Play, the audio service offered by Google as an alternative to Spotify. YouTube is currently discussing with music publishers and record companies to provide new and extensive licensing deals. It was able to close deals with Sony, Warner and Universal last year. However, disputes with some independent labels delayed the launch of the service. The dispute was resolved following the signing of an agreement between YouTube and Merlin, which will be beneficial for users of the YouTube Music Key.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Friday November 14 2014, 6:16 AM EST. Ref: NY Times. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0