YouTube, the biggest streaming service in the world is now launching its Music avatar for Indian consumers. This comes right after Spotify made its foray into the Indian music streaming segment just a few weeks back.
But YouTube doesn’t only have Spotify to contend with, it also has to battle Gaana, Amazon Music, Apple Music and JioSaavn among others. What is likely to work to YouTube’s advantage is its existing library of music (via video and other content providers) which is unparalleled.
With pricing being a crucial component for a product’s success in India, YouTube feels that charging Rs 99 per month, with free trial of three months, will appeal to music buffs looking to choose between myriad streaming apps. YouTube Music is available for iOS, Android and web users from this week onwards.
YouTube Music isn’t the only service launching in India on 12 March. The company is also offering YouTube Premium, which caters to the following benefits.
With more than 1 billion users on its platform across the globe, YouTube would be hoping that its Music service in India is an instant hit.
YouTube Premium is a paid streaming subscription service that provides advertising-free streaming of all videos hosted by YouTube, exclusive original content produced in collaboration with the site’s creators, as well as offline playback and playback of videos on mobile devices.YouTube
As you can see in the visual above, YouTube Music subscription comes in two forms. Either you can go for the regular Rs 99 per month option with a three-month free trial, or you choose the family plan (for up to 5 members), which is priced at Rs 149 per month. We’ve reached out to YouTube to know if this plan will be available from day one and will update with their response.
This is cheaper than the Rs 190 one pays for the Sharing plan on Apple Music right now. Spotify and other services don’t offer this, but you do get a student plan from them.
The other advantage with YouTube is that via your Google account, the platform already has a pretty good idea about your taste for music and the genres you like. Some might say that Google’s unlimited access to your internet history comes under scrutiny here, but for a service like this, people are likely to find YouTube’s features advantageous.
Spotify manages to curate playlists with ease and YouTube will be hopeful of matching its biggest rival in the country. Watch this space for a comparison with other music streaming apps, especially Spotify.
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