Google today announced that it will be launching its YouTube Music Key subscription music service next week.
The service will be available on personal computers as well as smartphones running Google’s Android operating system to start. Beginning November 17, 2014 users will be able to listen to music without ads on the YouTube site. On smartphones, they will be able to play music in the background while they browse in other mobile apps, and store music for offline playback.
The service will be available free for the first six months, but by invitation only. It will then be offered for a promotional lifetime price of US$7.99 a month, and thereafter, US$9.99 a month. Subscribers to Music Key will also get a free subscription to Google Play Music, which includes 30+ million songs, expert-curated playlists, and soon, the ability to watch many YouTube official music videos within the app.
If the idea of getting your music fix from YouTube (sans ads) sounds appealing, you can request an invite from the Music Key landing page or get instant access by subscribing to Google Play Music. Google also revised the YouTube iOS app today with a new Music tab listed prominently at the top.