Broadening the scope of its offerings, video-sharing website YouTube has introduced a new music streaming service to the South African market.
YouTube Music offers music videos, official albums, singles, remixes, live performances, covers and hard-to-find music that can only be found on YouTube.
An ad-supported version of YouTube Music is free for users, but there is also a paid-for option, YouTube Music Premium. This service provides an ad-free experience along with the ability to download music, for R59.99 a month.
Google SA head of marketing, Asha Patel, says the platform has a number of useful features. “A home screen that dynamically adapts to provide recommendations based on what you’ve played before, where you are and what you’re doing. Thousands of playlists across any genre, mood or activity. The hottest new music. And, no internet? No problem. Get YouTube Music Premium to listen ad-free, in the background and on-the-go with downloads. Plus, your Offline Mixtape automatically downloads songs you love just in case you forgot to.”
A Smart Search feature allows users to find any song, even if they can’t remember what it’s called. Descriptions, lyrics and even emojis can be used to find the tracks and this feature is available in most languages, including indigenous South African languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa.
“Google Play Music subscribers will automatically receive access to YouTube Music Premium at their current price,” she adds. “Nothing is changing with Google Play Music – you’ll still be able to access all of your purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music just like always.”
The new YouTube Music app is available to download in the Play Store and App Store or users can check out the web player at music.youtube.com and sign up for YouTube Premium at youtube.com/premium.
