Word from Bloomberg is that YouTube is currently making preparations to launch its own music streaming service this year, after signing deals with both with Sony and Universal.
YouTube is often the platform of choice for those who may not be users of Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music or Deezer, and the website hopes to capitalise on this by launching its very own streaming service rumoured to be called ‘Remix’ in 2018.
It will come at a price, however. The service will be paid for and the deals brokered with the major record label reportedly means artists will get better royalty rates from streams.
The service will also be stricter when it comes to what content users can upload.
While Google Play Music and YouTube have been rumoured to be merging for a while, the finer details of this potential deal are not yet known.
Will this be third time lucky for Alphabet (parent company of YouTube and Google) in entering the music streaming business and competing with the likes of Spotify (following launching both Google Play Music and YouTube Red – available in the US, Australia, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand)? With Tidal reportedly in trouble, a small gap in the market may emerge (we’re just not sure about the ‘Remix’ title just yet..)