YouTube Music has launched in 14 new markets including India in the last 24 hours.
YouTube’s revamped subscription streaming service was announced and launched in five markets in May last year, before going fully live in June 2018 on iOS and Android across 17 markets including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany.
MBW speculated in August 2018 that an India launch would probably be on the cards soon after spotting a job ad for a Manager, Music Content Partnerships role based in the country.
Just over six months later, and it has finally launched in the market – comprising an estimated 400m active internet users – at an interesting time.
YouTube Music has been made available in the wake of Spotify’s arrival there last month, and it is looking to attract as many new users as it can with the likes of 4-month free subscription deal for Samsung Galaxy S10 users.
Spotify confirmed that it gained more than 1m active users across both its free and premium tiers around a week after it went live.
Users in India will now have access to the ad-supported version of YouTube Music for free, as well as the ad-free YouTube Music Premium, the paid membership that allows you to play a YouTube music video in the background while you toggle between apps, along with offline downloads for 99 rupees a month.
YouTube Premium, which includes ad-free, background and offline play across all of YouTube, as well as access to YouTube Originals including Cobra Kai and BTS: Burn The Stage will be 129 rupees for all new members.
Existing Google Play Music subscribers will get a YouTube Music Premium membership as part of their subscription each month.
In addition to India, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium have also launched over the last 24 hours in South Africa, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Uruguay, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. The services are now available in 43 countries.
“With YouTube Music, we are hoping to bring the best in global and Indian music to millions of fans across India, and give them an immersive music experience, with the magic of music on YouTube.”
Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music, YouTube said: “India is where the multi-lingual music scene thrives. It’s interesting to note how Indian artists have consistently claimed top spots over the last few months in the Global YouTube Top Artists chart.
“With YouTube Music, we are hoping to bring the best in global and Indian music to millions of fans across India, and give them an immersive music experience, with the magic of music on YouTube.”
“We know that India loves watching music videos on YouTube – be it the vibrancy, choreography, stars and glamour. Music from India has always been so much more than just the audio.
T. Jay Fowler, YouTube Music
T. Jay Fowler, Director of Product, YouTube Music added: “We know that India loves watching music videos on YouTube – be it the vibrancy, choreography, stars and glamour. Music from India has always been so much more than just the audio.
“Therefore for us, with the launch of YouTube Music, all the emphasis is on the familiar and to make every user experience richer as they start using the service. From recommended music videos, live performances, covers, to new videos – it’s all here, and only here.”Music Business Worldwide
