Get ready for YouTube Music Key, a premium service from the leading video service that promises ad free music, offline play and background listening.
Sounds simple, yet complicated, so let's think it through...
Ad Free Music - Techcrunch beat me to asking the right question, which is, "How does YouTube define music?" In this case, it's still not clearly defined. It'll include official label and artist uploads, but it can and will also include virals, parodies and all that. Defining what is and isn't included in the definition of "music" seems to be something YouTube will study during the Beta launch of the service, but it could also be a big step in a) Transitioning the web from an ad-supported model to a subscription model, and b) recognizing that modern music must always have a visual component.
It also means that it will be harder to market music through Google advertising, especially if the Music Key premium tier takes off and the biggest music consumers now live in that ad free zone. But that's not really our concern, since I'd pay almost anything to not have to watch Geico and Six Pack Ab commercials before every video.
Offline Play - Kind of like what all the streaming audio programs already offer on mobile. Want to save some music to listen to while you're out of WiFi or cellular range? Save some music — or videos — to enjoy during that time.
Background Listening - Perhaps the dirty secret of all video views is how many of them are truly views, and how many are simply people using YouTube as an on-demand radio that's kept buried in a background window? Background listening makes that a moot point, especially on mobile where you'll be able to queue up some music and move onto doing whatever else you do on your devices.
Is that worth a monthly fee? It's $7.99 for Beta testers after a six month free demo period, and $9.99 for late adaptors.
It's a no-brainer for me, and for most heavy YouTube viewers who are already driven mad by ads — and haven't discovered AdBlock — and maybe also for everyone else who have already been using YouTube instead of Spotify, Rdio or Beats Music.
More thoughts as it launches... For now, check out the Demo video and see if your video made the cut!
