Why bother going to two sites for music video services when you can get them in a two-for-one deal? That might be what Google conjures up for YouTube.
According to an exclusive report by Android Police, Google has big plans to turn YouTube into a better place to listen to music. It’s called YouTube Music Key, offering ad-free music, audio-only playback, and offline playback. It’ll start at $9.99 a month, which is how much Play Music All Access costs. New users can try it free for 30 days. That ten bucks will give you a subscription to Play Music All Access. Which will be renamed Play Music Key.
YouTube Music Key will offer the entire discography of your favorite artists and concert footage, covers, and remixes. The library should be even more extensive than what Play Music provides now.
These rumors fall in tandem with the recent rumblings regarding YouTube’s possible subscription music playback service. And its ability to play audio offline in the background. There’s also evidence that Google already sealed the deal on the domain YouTubeMusicKey.com.
There’s no word on when the service will launch. But Mountain View may be waiting for the official unveiling of Android to make this live.
A large group of music fans already use YouTube to listen to music, paying no attention to the video itself. Which is often just a static picture or album cover art. This could be a very savvy move to monetize this sizable market while providing a better service. Still, there are a lot of legal hoops to jump through on the licensing end. Before YouTube Music Key can open its doors to the public.