YouTube today announced a new subscription streaming service, YouTube Music Key, which is currently in beta. The service offers up ad-free music on YouTube, along with background play and offline viewing.
Priced at $7.99 (discounted from $9.99), YouTube Music Key also includes a subscription to Google's Spotify competitor, Google Play Music (formerly Google Play All Access), which includes more than 30 million songs and will feature the ability to watch official YouTube videos directly within the app.
Some streaming music services, like Spotify, offer a limited number of music videos, but ad-free access to high-quality popular videos is a feature that will be unique to YouTube Music Key and its sister service, Google Play Music.
Alongside YouTube Music Key, the YouTube apps for iOS and Android and YouTube.com have been updated with a new section dedicated to music videos, which provides recommended mood-based playlists and features trending music. The new focus on music will also highlight full-length albums and artist pages.
YouTube Music Key is currently in beta, with access going to the company's "biggest music fans" first before seeing a wider worldwide launch. YouTube users who receive an invite to the Music Key beta will receive six months of access for free. Customers who sign up for Google Play Music will get immediate access to the YouTube Music Key beta.
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If the app still doesn't play music in the background or when you sleep your phone then... lame.
Their website boldly states 'Background listening' as a key feature.