After months of speculation, the first images and details of video-sharing site YouTube’s music subscription service, YouTube Music Key, have been showcased online.
Obtained by Android Police, the information reveals YouTube Music Key will cost subscribers US$9.99 per month. The service is to include all the features that make up current music subscription services, such as the ability to listen to music through streaming or preloading the tracks or album onto a device for offline listening.
Just like Spotify, Music Key will offer first-time subscribers a one-month free trial which will then roll over to the monthly fee.
For those signed up to Google’s existing music service, Google Play Music Key, there won’t be any impetus for them to also sign up, as once they are subscribed to one of either, they are signed up to both.
Prior to its launch, YouTube has been busy thrashing out deals with musicians, some of whom weren’t pleased with Google’s terms. The company has since acquired a host of other audio material, including live sets, festival recordings and even remixes and covers of those artists to challenge its competitors.
Details of YouTube Music Key’s release date are still unknown, but this information indicates things are in the final stages prior to an official release.