Today, YouTube has finally announced the launch of its music streaming service, YouTube Music (ad-supported), in India. With the launch of YouTube Music, users in India will now be able to listen to their favorite music, explore new music, and get a personalized feed, catering to their preferences. The service can be used in the form of a web player online or an app, available for download on both, Android and iOS. In addition to YouTube Music, the company has also announced the launch of its other popular premium services, the YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music collectively offers a huge variety of songs, albums, playlists, radio etc along with a wide catalog of remixes, live performances, covers, etc personalized, at a single place. All these features will be available in the Free plan, with a Paid membership – YouTube Music Premium, that specifically allows ad-free music experience, with the ability to play music in the background, and download songs offline, starting at Rs 99 per month.
“India is where the multi-lingual music scene thrives. It’s interesting to note how Indian artists have consistently claimed top spots over the last few months in the Global YouTube Top Artists chart. With YouTube Music, we are hoping to bring the best in global and Indian music to millions of fans across India, and give them an immersive music experience, with the magic of music on YouTube”, said the Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen on the launch of YouTube Music in India.
YouTube Music Features
Some of the highlighting features of YouTube Music include-
- Access to official songs, albums, singles, live performances, covers etc in addition to music videos.
- Personalised home page, filled with recommendations based on your previous music listening preferences.
- Various playlists across various genres, moods, activity, and language, to allow you to discover new songs.
- Smart search, which allows you to search for a song you don’t remember, using some part of the lyrics.
- Dedicated hotlist section that shows the current trending hot songs, so you don’t miss out on them.
- An Offline Mixtape, created by downloading up to 100 of your favorite songs using your mobile data, in case you forget to do so.
The YouTube Music app is available on both, Android and iOS, and can be downloaded off their respective App Stores. The plans start at Rs 99, with all existing Google Play Music subscribers getting YouTube Music Premium membership as part of their subscription each month. Additionally, YouTube is also offering a special introductory offer of 3 months of free YouTube Music Premium, so go ahead and try the service for yourself.
YouTube Premium
YouTube has also officially launched its premium YouTube service, which it calls, YouTube Premium. The service essentially allows users access to ad-free, offline viewing experience across different YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Gaming, and YouTube Kids. The service starts at Rs 129 a month and includes membership to YouTube Music Premium, ad-free experience, with the ability to play videos in the background and download them offline on YouTube, along with exclusive access to YouTube Originals.
Just last month, Spotify launched its music streaming in India whose plans start at Rs 119 per month. Then we have Apple Music priced at Rs 120 per month, Amazon Music costing Rs 129 per month, Gaana priced at 99 per month and JioSaavn at Rs 99 per month. At Rs 129 per month for both Google Play Music and YouTube Music PLUS ad-free YouTube, the new YouTube Premium does look like a compelling offer.