YouTube Music and Premium international launch: What you should know
After launching in early access back in May, Google has officially opened the YouTube Music floodgates. If other music streaming services leave you wanting, you can now see if YouTube Music satisfies in a handful of regions around the world. It isn't launching alone either, as YouTube Premium is rolling out to 17 regions as well.
If you're a bit confused about the differences between YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, you aren't alone. YouTube Music, for lack of a better description, is Google's (latest) answer to Spotify. Of course, this isn't the first time Google has tried to carve out a space for itself in the music streaming market, but it seems the company is hoping that the YouTube name pulls in more subscriptions than Google Play Music did.
With YouTube Music, you'll pay $9.99 per month to get ad-free listening along with the ability to download songs and listen to your music in the background. Google is very clear in saying that YouTube Music isn't just about music videos – you can also use the service to find full albums, live performances, singles, remixes, and "hard-to-find music you can only get on YouTube." Google has also announced that The Beatles' full album catalog is available on YouTube Music beginning today, so that's one less thing the other music services have on it.
Like Spotify, YouTube Music will surface recommendations based on the songs you've listened to before, and it will also offer "thousands of playlists" that not only encompass genres and activities, but also moods. Smart search is perhaps the distinguishing feature here. With YouTube Music, you don't need to know the title of the song to find what you're looking for, as you can instead search in more general terms while Google handles the rest (Google's example of this functionality involves searching for "That space-themed Spice Girls song in the desert" to pull up Say You'll Be There).
YouTube Premium, on the other hand, is more of an extension of YouTube Music. Premium takes the ad-free viewing, downloads, and background listening that a Music subscription offers and extends it to all of YouTube. YouTube Premium has already been around for a while as YouTube Red, so here we're seeing Google do a bit of re-branding to make things a little more consistent.
According to the Google Blog, both YouTube Music and Premium are available today in 17 countries around the world. YouTube Music is available to everyone as a free, ad-supported service, with a $9.99 subscription required to unlock the features listed above. YouTube Premium, on the other hand, costs $11.99 per month and includes a YouTube Music Premium subscription. For a limited time, Google is offering three free months to both services, and you can sign up for YouTube Music or YouTube Premium on their respective web pages.