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YouTube Music subscriptions shake up Google Play Music and YouTube Red
YouTube execs have finally announced the long-awaited revamp for YouTube Music that they say will eventually replace Google Play Music. In interviews with Recode, CNET and USA Today, they revealed the new YouTube Music will soft-launch next Tuesday with a $10 subscription packages (you can sign up now for updates right here). Similar to its previous iteration, the focus here will be on personalization that tries to learn what music you like, but this time it's pushing music videos to the background in favor of audio. The personalization will naturally tie into Google Assistant AI, and pull from a subscriber's YouTube history to serve up suggestions. Google Play Music will remain for now, but the plan is to "close gaps" between services like YouTube Music's lack of a music locker for users to upload their tunes before GPM goes away at some unspecified point in the future -- YouTube exec T. Jay Fowler told USA Today it could be as far away as 2019. Meanwhile, the YouTube Red section will transition into YouTube Premium -- a paywalled, ad-free video experience available only as a $2 add-on for YouTube Music. That means accessing originals YouTube is spending "hundreds of millions" on like Cobra Kai, will mean shelling out $12 per month. Update: YouTube officially announced the changes here, confirming its Music Premium service will launch May 22nd at a $10 per month price. Google Play Music subscribers will get access as part of their membership automatically and the blog post said that (for now) "nothing will change -- you'll still be able to access all of your purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music just like always." It also touts the new app's personalized home screen that "dynamically adapts" to your preferences, history, current time and location (just like Google Play Music). You can still use YouTube Music for free, but Premium enables background listening, downloads for offline and removes the ads. The new service arrives Tuesday in U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea.
YouTube music app gets a streamlined now playing screen
With YouTube Remix on the horizon and Google Play Music on its way out (not to mention Google I/O next week), it's not a surprise that YouTube Music, the app that the company rolled out in 2015, is getting a bit of a refresh. Originally spotted by Redditor c2fifield, the redesign includes some streamlined changes to the "now playing" interface as well as the queue lists below it. Only some users are seeing this new update, so be patient.
YouTube Remix could mean the end of Google Play Music
Google will reportedly shutter Google Play Music as part of a long-rumored audio and video cleanup. According to Droidlife, the subscription streaming service — a rival to Spotify, Apple Music and others — will be replaced by YouTube Remix later this year. The new offering will reportedly offer both on-demand music and video clips sourced from YouTube. In short, it'll be Play Music and YouTube Music (the fate of which is still unclear) mashed together. YouTube Remix has been teased since mid-2017 and was slated for a March 2018 release by Bloomberg last December. (Obviously, that didn't happen.) Droidlife is now reporting that Google Play Music users will be forced to migrate by the end of 2018.
YouTube deals with Sony and Universal pave the way for music service
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that YouTube's subscription music service could launch as early as March, but that ongoing and unsolved negotiations with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group could prevent that launch date from happening. Bloomberg now reports, however, that both music labels have signed long-term agreements with YouTube.
