Bloomberg has reported that the video-sharing giant YouTube will launch a paid music subscription service in March of 2018. This is YouTube’s third attempt to compete with similar service offerings by Spotify and Apple Inc.
According to an article by Bloomberg, the subscription service is being launched in collaboration with various record labels, among them Warner Music Group – that has already signed on, according to people familiar with the matter. The same insiders claim that talks are in progress with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as with Merlin, which is a consortium of independent labels.
The launch follows previous attempts by YouTube to run a competitive music subscription service. In 2014, YouTube launched YouTube Music Key, which offered subscribers ad-free music videos, and this evolved into YouTube Red in 2016, which let subscribers watch all videos on the sharing platform without interruptions by advertisements.
The new service, which is being called “Remix” internally, will offer a streaming service similar to that of Spotify, and also incorporate video clips and other elements from YouTube.
Earlier this year, the Warner Music executive Lyor Cohen, who has been affiliated with YouTube and has overseen its music operations, while also serving as a liaison to Warner Music, announced plans to create a new paid service. Third time lucky for YouTube’s music subscription service attempts? Only time will tell.