And here we go again…. Google announced, literally in the middle of the night last night, that they are going to rebrand YouTube Red and revamp the YouTube Music app. It was odd timing to say the least.
YouTube Premium is essentially a rebranded YouTube Red. You get all the benefits of Red like downloading of content, ad-free content and access to YouTube original content like you do today. The price is $11.99/month and that includes the new YouTube Music. This too is similar to what is available today. If you subscribe to Google Play Music at $9.99/month, you get YouTube Red included.
YouTube Music, which already exists but is a horrible user experience, is getting a complete revamp and relaunch. It is being positioned as your one-stop shop for videos, music and official artist stations all within one app. It will give you the ability to download music for offline listening, is ad-free, and allows you to listen while the app is in the background. If you want YouTube Music only, it is $9.99/month.
The new YouTube Music will launch next week on May 22nd while the YouTube Premium branding will be rolling out starting next week too. If you are a YouTube Red subscriber, nothing really changes for you.
Of course, the question is what will happen to Google Play Music? Given that Google is moving away from the “Play” brand, it is likely going to go away in favor of YouTube Music. The Mountain View company is positioning YouTube as their content brand, regardless if it is music or video content. While Google didn’t announce this, don’t be surprised if you see Play Music go into the sunset by the end of 2018.
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