YouTube has taken the wraps off its YouTube Red membership video streaming service, which, launching in the US, will carry a price tag of US$9.99 per month.YouTube Red will be available from October 28, with YouTube revealing via a blog post that from early next year it will be offering “member-only access to new, original shows and movies from some of YouTube’s biggest creators”.
The move towards paid subscription along with original series and movies sees YouTube intensifying competition with likes of streaming giant Netflix, with the subscription video-on-demand market growing increasingly crowded and competitive.
YouTube will continue to offer its ad-supported service in addition to YouTube Red, which will launch in the US offering users a free one-month trial.
“YouTube Red lets you enjoy videos across all of YouTube without ads, while also letting you save videos to watch offline on your phone or tablet and play videos in the background, all for $9.99 a month,” YouTube states of the new service.
YouTube has additionally announced a new YouTube Music app, which it states will be available soon, and which will integrate with YouTube Red.
“YouTube Music is designed to make discovering, watching and listening to music easier than ever,” YouTube states of its new music service.
“Any song or artist you choose on YouTube Music will start you on a personal journey through one of the richest music catalogues; just sign in, tap a track you love, and see where your music takes you. And as a special bonus – YouTube Red works with Google Play Music, so subscribe to one and automatically get access to the other.”
Competition in the global music streaming market has intensified this year with the entry of Apple Music, with Apple CEO Tim Cook this week revealing at WSJDLive, The Wall Street Journal’s global technology conference, that the service has 15 million users, of which 6.5 million are paying subscribers.
Meanwhile, music streaming service Spotify advised in June that it had reached more than 20 million subscribers and more than 75 million active users.
YouTube states it is working to bring YouTube Red and YouTube Music to other countries soon.
A list of original TV series and movies that will be available on YouTube Red next year can be found here.
