Introducing The YouTube Music App

Google has just launched YouTube Music, a mobile app that should serve as a new home for music for audiophiles, especially those who like their daily dose of music delivered via the planet’s most popular video sharing website. The new Youtube Music app should not be confused with YouTube Music Key, the subscription service that the company introduced a year ago.

The timing of the unveiling of YouTube Music seems to be just right. A month ago, Google also announced Red, a subscription service priced at $10 a month that does away with advertisements, and at the same time providing certain mobile perks to subscribers. Launching YouTube Music along with the already released Red service is a sort of second try for YouTube, especially when one considers that last year’s YouTube Music Key never really took off, except maybe for a limited number of testers who were exclusively invited.

Despite the influx of competitors, YouTube remains the world’s most visited source of video content on the Internet, and is considered one of the most widely used source of music online (that is, not counting those that employ illegal means). Some people may be wondering why YouTube never resorted to upfront subscription services before, but the fact of the matter is, it never had to because it fared so well from ads. Consumers, however, will certainly not mind viewing YouTube clips sans any advertising. Thus, YouTube’s $10 a month subscription service came to be.

The only challenge now for YouTube is getting viewers to actually sign up for the subscription service. As an Internet giant, YouTube will never have a problem reaching out to people. On a monthly basis, over 1 billion people in the world (roughly one out of every seven people in the planet) visit YouTube. How many of these will actually subscribe?

The key is in the careful packaging of the YouTube Music mobile app and the YouTube Red service. Subscribing to YouTube Red actually improves the YouTube Music app experience. Apart from enjoying ad free listening, users can enjoy music even without having to connect to a network, which can come quite handy when riding a train or jogging at no Wi-Fi zones. Plus, listeners can keep enjoying the music even if they launch another app, or perform another task like texting on their mobile devices.

Of course, the YouTube Music mobile app is open to those who want to enjoy listening to music for free, too. Not only do nonpaying listeners get access to videos, songs, and stations, they also are offered top picks, and other highlighted content. 

The YouTube Music mobile app is available for all Android devices as well as iOS devices. When downloading the mobile app, users can expect to have a free 14 day trial of YouTube Red, complete with all bonus features.