YouTube will launch another attempt at a music streaming service in March of next year. Called Remix, it will be a consolidation of their current services YouTube Red and Google Play Music.
The remix will be an attempt to combine the two aforementioned services into one convenient product. As such, it will offer both video and music streaming.
According to a report by Bloomberg, this will be Alphabet Incorporated's third attempt to compete with Spotify and Apple (Alphabet Inc. being the parent company of Google and by extension, YouTube).
The new product will have features found in Spotify like on-demand streaming, while also retaining YouTube's video streaming service. It has been reported that the company has reached out to music artists in an attempt to promote Remix.
However, the project remains largely dependent upon two of the biggest music publishers agreeing to the idea. Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group are still in talks for a deal with YouTube. Meanwhile, Warner Music Group is already signed on to the project.
This is not the first time YouTube has tried to get a share of the music streaming market. First, they released Google Play Music in 2011, and in 2016, YouTube Music Key. The latter suffered slow growth, and the company decided to rebrand it as YouTube Red.
YouTube Red offered ad-free videos and exclusive programs for subscribers only. The service focused more on videos than music, however.
It was reported that YouTube Red only had 1.5 million subscribers a year ago. In comparison, Spotify currently has 140 million monthly users, 50 million of which are paying for a monthly subscription.
YouTube has already hired Warner Music Executive Lyor Cohen to help manage its music operations. However, a launch date in March will remain largely dependent on the other two major companies.
Still, music videos account for a majority of views on the YouTube platform. Some of the more popular ones even rack up to millions, even billions of views.
