YouTube announced that starting October 28, fans will be able to sign up for its new subscription-based "YouTube Red" service. For $9.99 per month, members will have access to all of YouTube’s content, on all devices, without the nuisance of advertisements.
The YouTube gaming app that recently launched is also part of YouTube Red, so the benefit of the subscription carries over to that account as well. YouTube also announced it will be launching YouTube Music very soon, which will also be part of the YouTube Red membership.
The company said that the YouTube Music app is designed to make discovering and consuming music on YouTube easier than ever. Simply select a song and hit play. YouTube Music will automatically find more tracks to play next. The company said that YouTube Music works with Google Play Music, and if you subscribe to one, you get access to the other.
In addition to removing the advertisements, YouTube Red allows fans to save videos on their mobile devices for offline play at a later time. The mobile app also lets you multitask with videos still playing in the background, which would make YouTube Music a great alternative to other music streaming services that let you save songs to listen to later.
In the coming year, YouTube will be expanding YouTube Red to include exclusive, member-only content from some of YouTube’s biggest contributors. Some of the proposed shows include “Scare PewDiePie,” brought to you by the creator and executive producers of The Walking Dead, and an untitled 360 VR experience from MatPat of popular YouTube show "Game Theory." The full list includes projects from College Humor, Rooster Teeth and several other prominent YouTubers.
YouTube Red launches in the United States on October 28, and U.S. residents can sign up for a one-month free trial of the service. YouTube did not say when YouTube Music will be launching, only stating that it is coming soon. The company had the same vague statement about support for other countries. YouTube Red, YouTube Gaming, YouTube Music and YouTube Kids apps will roll out to other regions “soon.”
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