After 3 years of limited availability, Google is ditching YouTube Red and is replacing it with two new services with grand ambitions. There’s now going to be two new paid services from YouTube: YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium. And don’t worry, Google Play Music isn’t going anywhere. So what exactly does this mean? Will you need to pay twice if you want to watch YouTube music videos ad-free? Read on to find out.
What Is YouTube Red?
YouTube Red is an all in one subscription service for YouTube. You get access to ad-free videos, offline downloads, YouTube Music features, background listening and a selection of original content from YouTube.
As of May 19th, YouTube Red is still available and you can still subscribe to it. Once YouTube Premium launches, YouTube Red subscription will be converted to a YouTube Premium subscription automatically. This is a good deal because YouTube Red costs $9.99/month while YouTube Premium will be $11.99/month. So if you’re interested in YouTube Premium, you can save two dollars a month going forward by subscribing to YouTube Red right now.
What is YouTube Music Premium?
YouTube Music Premium is an upcoming music streaming service from YouTube. This service is designed to be a direct competitor to Spotify and Apple Music, but with a distinct spin of YouTube (i.e. music videos) on it. When it launches, YouTube Music Premium will have mobile apps and a web player.
YouTube Music Premium, like Google Play Music, will give you access to Google’s catalog of music in audio form. But as this is a YouTube service, there will be a lot more. The app’s home screen will greet you with recommended playlists based on where you are and what you’re doing. There will be playlists for gym, airports and so on.
YouTube Music Premium will cost $9.99 and will give you access to ad-free music, background listening feature and offline downloads.
If you don’t want to pay $9.99/month, you can use the ad-supported version of YouTube Music for free. You’ll get the same, streaming-only experience, just with ads.
What is YouTube Premium?
YouTube Premium is the new replacement for YouTube Red. It’s going to be the all-encompassing service. When you pay the $11.99/month for YouTube Premium, you get access to ad-free videos, YouTube originals, background listening, offline downloads and then entire YouTube Music Premium experience (as outlined above).
Google has also promised that YouTube Premium service will be available in more countries soon. This is good news considering that YouTube Red was only available in a handful of western countries.
Why Does Google Play Music Still Exist?
Google has said that Google Play Music isn’t going anywhere. And because this is the default music player and service in so many Android phones, it can’t really go anywhere. But here’s an upside. According to Google Play Music’s twitter handle, If you’re already paying for Google Play Music ($9.99/month), you’ll automatically get access to both YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium for free. This means that you’ll end up saving $2.
Which One Should You Buy?
If you’re in the market for an ad-free premium YouTube experience, your best bet would be to buy YouTube Red or Google Play Music subscription right now for $9.99. It will be converted to YouTube Premium subscription which will give you access to all of Google’s streaming services.
Which service are you going to end up buying? Share with us in the comments below.
