YouTube's new subscription music service, Music Key, is set to launch today, Nov. 17. The service will allow paying customers access to licensed music videos without the hassle of advertisements. Users will even be able to watch music videos without an Internet connection.
MTV News points out that, like Spotify's pay model, users will pay a monthly fee of $7.99 — $9.99 after the promotional offer expires — for the service.
It has been a long road for YouTube's streaming experiment, the company has been working on the project for more than a year. Many of the major labels signed licensing agreements early on with the music video giant, but indie labels were not as eager. Trade organizations representing the indies said that the deal was unfair because they were being offered less money than the major labels.
Last week, the two parties reached an agreement, giving YouTube the last piece of the puzzle.
In October, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that she hoped the service would be ready for action soon.
"I think there's a lot of opportunity," Wojcicki said. "It's amazing how much music we have ... I remain optimistic that you can see it soon."
"YouTube right now is ad-supported, which is great because it has enabled us to scale to a billion users, but there's going to be a point where people don't want to see the ads," Wojcicki added. "We're thinking about how to give users options."
No word on whether Taylor Swift will make her music available on the streaming service, but it is unlikely.
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Readers: Are you excited about this new music service? What do you think about the price? Is it a fair deal? Do you think it will ever be available for free to users? Do you think there will be any competitors? Comment below.
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