Music Key has been speculated about for months while Google Inc. wrangled over the licensing terms with recording labels. The service, priced initially at $8 a month, is comparable in cost to other digital music subscription services sold by Spotify, Apple Inc's Beats and Google's own 18-month-old streaming service tied to its Android "Play store". But Music Key subscribers will be able to stream through the Google Play service at no additional charge, too. YouTube also is unveiling a new tab devoted exclusively to music on its mobile apps and website.
Most music subscription services own the rights to the same catalogs, making their ability to learn listeners' preference to create appealing playlists particularly important. Music Key, though, will offer the unique distinction of being able to show artists performing their songs too. That difference could help lure listeners away from Spotify, which says it has about 50 million users, including 12.5 million subscribers, said Mark Mulligan, a longtime industry analyst with Midia Research. And YouTube's redesigned library of free music could do even more damage to Spotify and other services, such as video site Vevo, where people flock to check out songs at no cost. Expanding the audience that listens to free music would be profitable for Google because that would yield more opportunities to show ads _ the main way that the Mountain View, California, company makes its money anyway.
YouTube viewers with a history of watching a lot of music clips. Anyone interested in an invitation can request one at http://YouTube.com/MusicKey . After a free six-month trial period, Music Key will temporarily cost $8 per month before escalating to its standard price of $10 per month. Besides removing all ads, Music Key also gives subscribers two other perks: the ability to continue playing songs while the screens of mobile devices are locked and the option to download tracks so they can be played without an Internet connection.
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