According to a report from Bloomberg over the weekend, YouTube is set to launch a new music subscription service called YouTube Remix that will compete with services such as Spotify and even Apple Music.
Wait…doesn’t YouTube already have a subscription music service with YouTube Music/Google Play Music? Yes it sure does. But this will apparently be a new service which will appease music execs with more cash. Execs from Warner Music group are apparently already on board with talks with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group currently on-going, as are talks with Merlin, a consortium of independent labels.
Remix will be a way to focus more on the music side of things, with artists apparently being sought after by YouTube to promote the service. Remix will offer ‘Spotify-like on-demand streaming and would incorporate elements from YouTube, such as video clips’.
The service is rumoured to be aiming for a March launch, though that could be held up if talks with executives at the hold-out music companies don’t go according to plan. How this will affect YouTube Music, YouTube Red, Google Play Music etc. hasn’t been announced, but we’ll surely find out in the coming months if it does launch.
Sadly marketing is the enemy of service utopia. Improving the app we’ve already committed to will never drive adoption as strongly as coming up with some new brand and signing Beyonce to appear on the ad. This is honestly one area where I wish Google was more like Apple; at least Cupertino don’t feel the need to kill perfectly good apps by introducing a shiny new branding every 5 minutes.
Just combine everything into one app!
If I can have my offline YouTube music and Google Play music in the one app, that would be the dream. ?
The only reason I choose Google music for now is I can watch YouTube without ads. If that’s changed, I hold my money.