YouTube's standalone music streaming app is here. Google a music companion to its new YouTube Red video subscription service. The app is now available on iOS and Android.
YouTube Music is all about discovery. If you search for an artist, album, or track, the app will bring you everything about it, from the official music video to popular covers and remixes to concert videos.
And, like any good music app, you can create playlists, listen to personalized selections, and get recommendations on the Home tab of the app's home page. YouTube Music is free, but for $9.99/month, your YouTube Red gives you a few extra features, like offline listening, the ability to switch between video-only and audio-only, and the option to listen to songs and videos in the background while you're in other apps. It also gets rid of the ads that free users of the app hear.
Google hopes YouTube Music will help people move towards its new YouTube Red subscription service, which launched last month. A YouTube Red subscription also comes with on-demand access to Google Play Music – Google – and those who are already subscribed to Play Music will be able to use YouTube Music’s premium features.
It's unclear whether such a new service built around music videos, which most people already use for free, will help YouTube Red attract an audience, but the app should be a favorite with many YouTube music-loving users. To help promote the new service, the company is giving new users access to premium features for free for the first 14 days.
