YouTube is readying its own music streaming service for debut in March 2018, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The service, which is known within the firm as YouTube Remix, serves to hush music industry big-wigs who have been longing for a larger slice of revenue from the world’s biggest video service.
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But Remix’s existence isn’t set in stone just yet.
The Alphabet-owned company continues to slug it out with music companies Universal and Sony, and music video distributor Vevo for new content deals.
There’s also the question of how — and if — Remix will tie into Google’s other streaming music service, Google Play Music.
In July 2017, a report from The Verge suggested that Play Music and YouTube Red — the company’s paid for video platform — will merge.
“Music is very important to Google and we’re evaluating how to bring together our music offerings to deliver the best possible product for our users, music partners and artists,” the company told The Verge.
Google and YouTube have yet to officially confirm this.
Deals and internal competition aside, the introduction of a service like Remix does make financial sense.
YouTube is the world’s most popular site for on-demand music, making it a perfect place for a paid-for music streaming service. To put this into perspective, just five of the 100 most-watched YouTube clips are not music videos.
Its user base also dwarfs the likes of Spotify (60-million users) and Apple Music (about 27-million) — its two primary competitors.
If the service does come to fruition, we doubt that it will be available in South Africa at launch.
The likes of YouTube Red and YouTube TV — the company’s “cable-free live television” service — are both unavailable on the continent at the time of writing.
The company has yet to issue an official statement on Remix, or its future music streaming service plans.
Feature image: Memeburn
