Photo Courtesy of YouTube
Recently, YouTube has teamed up with Google to offer a new paid music subscription service which allows users to stream music ad-free without an Internet connection. The new YouTube Music Key service is set to cost $9.99 when released to the public.
According to billboard.com, “mobile and desktop users can access the site's new music section from a link at the top of its homepage. As well, when an artist is searched for the result page offers a track and album listing as well as a Pandora-like 'endless playlist' option.”
“The idea is pretty cool and it sounds like something I wouldn’t mind investing $10 a month to. Plus, I won’t have to listen to the 30 second ads anymore which sounds great too,” senior Christian Manging said.
YouTube Music Key is also integrating offline listening. Music Key will have a single “Pandora-like” button solution to listening to a combination of music videos, offline songs and different playlists. This new service offers the ultimate playlist based off of the listener’s favorite genre, song or artist.
Junior Marcus Miles stated, “It’s a nice idea but it’s not original. What’s the point in coming into the game now? They have same idea as Spotify — the only real difference I see is that Spotify charges $5 a month with the college student discount while Youtube will charge double and offer no type of deals.”
With YouTube entering the ring late, many think they might not be able to keep up with the streaming music superpowers which are Spotify, Pandora and SoundCloud, especially since they are offering identical services. But with the amount of users and subscribers YouTube has they should have no trouble. It is said that YouTube has over 2 billion hours worth of music videos watched per month by an estimated 1 billion “unique users.”
“It doesn’t sound like anything new but I would get it if I didn’t already have Pandora,” senior Samantha Keastead said.
YouTube Music Key is trying to get their foot in the door with music streaming by offering services that already exist such as an offline listening experience and an enormous playlist. It is unknown whether or not the new service will become a success.
tblackm1@ramapo.edu
