According to Tech.Fortune.CNN, YouTube, which is already one of the most used music service in the world, will soon launch a streaming service. This is still officially a rumor, but a YouTube spokesperson declared to the website:
‘While we don't comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that.’That’s true that you can already spend a lot of time watching music videos for free on YouTube, but the subsidiary of Google will soon offer the new service allowing anyone to stream music for free, and other features will be added in exchange of a subscription fee, the same way Spotify does it, I guess.
In this more and more crowded world of digital music services, there already is a Google Play for Android, which allow users to buy and store tracks, but of course this is a totally different state of mind!
I thought Spotify wasn’t making money, so will this new service be more lucrative? Will it kill Spotify in the US? Most teenagers go to YouTube, and there’s no doubt in my mind they will pick it over the Swedish company if they have the choice. Plus YouTube has something that artists love, an ‘audio fingerprints’ that tags uploaded videos, ensures royalties to the copyright holders, and so allows them to profit from what was before copyright infringement… so it pleases artists whereas we can’t say the same from Spotify.
But there is even more! Amazon just announced that it may also launch a streaming service according to the Telegraph! It seems that each company is going for the combo, buying, storing and streaming…
I must admit that I am a little lost in this crowded world, Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, Soundcloud, iTunes (the Apple rumored one), Daisy, the one by Trent Reznor and Dr. Dre,… and now YouTube and Amazon, is there room for everybody?