YouTube Launches Premium Music Service, Challenging Spotify and Apple
*By Alisha Haridasani*
After a series of stops and starts, YouTube will launch a music streaming service later this month to compete directly with Spotify and Apple Music.
The ad-supported YouTube Music will be available to users for free, and an ad-free version, YouTube Music Premium, will cost about $10 a month. There will be a mobile app and a desktop player designed to stream pre-programmed playlists, personalized music suggestions, live performances, and music videos, according to a [statement](https://youtube.googleblog.com/2018/05/youtube-music-new-music-streaming.html) from YouTube.
To consolidate its various video and music products, Google will include access to YouTube Music Premium for Google Play Music subscribers at no additional cost.
In addition to the standalone music product, YouTube is re-branding its music and video YouTube Red service as YouTube Premium. The ad-free subscription service will go from $10 to $12 a month, but it includes the new ad-free premium music service.
YouTubes official entry into the premium music streaming business has been a long time coming: More than 1 billion users a month already use YouTube to “discover new music.” A [study](http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Music-Consumer-Insight-Report-2017.pdf) published in 2017 estimates that YouTube accounts for 46 percent of time spent online listening to on-demand music.
The leading premium music streaming service, Spotify, has 75 million paid subscribers and is expected to hit 96 million by the end of the year. Rival Apple Music [reportedly](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/apple-music-hits-50-million-subscribers-1112018) has 50 million paid and free users.
Tech and entertainment giant Sony appears to be getting serious about automaking. An electric concept SUV — the Vision S-02 — was unveiled at CES 2022 and is slated to be produced by a new subdivision, Sony Mobility. This comes after the company revealed the Vision S concept Sedan at CES 2020.
The highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 has forced school districts nationwide to return to virtual instruction, but there remain concerns about the quality of education students are receiving online. Andy Bird, CEO of Pearson, an education publisher and assessment service provider, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about steps educators and parents can take to make the remote learning experience an easier one, noting that one of the biggest advantages teachers can have is flexibility. "You cannot take a rigid timetable that works in the analog world and replicate that in the digital world. You need to have flexibility. Asynchronous learning, I think, is a very important part," he told Cheddar.
Rob Dongoski, EY Food and Agriculture Leader, joins Cheddar News to discuss what advancements in tech will shape the future of food, and how we are going to see more and more personalization in the food system.
The year 2021 saw numerous natural disasters around the world, including extreme heat and wildfires, rare deep freezes, and historic flooding. This year's United Nations COP26 conference was key for getting world leaders on board with emissions reductions and other climate-focused policies as the UN Secretary-General said the agency's report on global warming is a 'code red for humanity.' In the U.S., President Joe Biden has focused most of his domestic agenda on slashing emissions and building climate-focused infrastructure. Guests from The Economist, UNC-Chapel Hill, Global Rescue, and more join Cheddar Climate's year-end special to discuss how the climate changed in 2021, and what to expect in 2022.
It's no secret tech giant Amazon has a mission of becoming a major player in sports media, and the company is poised to make progress on that goal in 2022. Amazon Prime Video will be the exclusive home to Thursday Night Football for the 2022-23 NFL season. In December, the New York Post reported that Amazon is in the beginning stages of developing studio sports programs, and hopes to soon have a full daily lineup of sports shows. Front Office Sports senior reporter A.J. Perez joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
