YouTube Music, YouTube Premium bring ad free music and video streaming to India

Music listeners in India have never had it better. Hot on the heels of the launch of Spotify, Google is introducing YouTube Music and YouTube Premium in India. The two services are distinctly unique offerings that cater to both music listeners and avid consumers of video content on YouTube.

YouTube Music builds the legacy of Google Play Music and is a full service music streaming platform with the added benefit of millions of videos already present on the platform. Users can search for artists, full albums, songs as would be expected from a streaming service. In addition to that, YouTube Music integrates music videos and live performance as well as a whole array of remixes and fan videos into the interface giving you hours of additional content to view or listen to. 

Since Google has access to your entire YouTube search history, the service is able to present customized mixes and artist suggestions right out of the box. Some unique features include location based playlists as well as an offline feature that will keep an updated selection of tracks based on your listening preferences.

So does it replace Google Play Music? Not for the moment. Subscribers to YouTube Music will continue to get access to both the services with Google Play Music’s locker service being particularly appealing. Eventually, Google plans to merge the two. If you are a current Google Play Music subscriber, you will automatically get access to YouTube Music. The monthly subscription fee for YouTube Music is 99 rupees (~$1.39).

YouTube Premium, on the other hand, is geared more towards people who watch a lot of video content on the go. The service strips all ads from the video streaming service. In addition, it also gives you access to a range of YouTube Originals including Cobra Kai. And finally, YouTube Premium users will be able to continue playing content even with the screen turned off. The monthly subscription fee for YouTube Premium is 129 rupees ($1.81) and includes access to YouTube Music.

With the number of music streaming services available in India, what is your current favorite? Do you like the local content library of established Indian services like Saavn or do you prefer the intuitive playlists of Spotify? Let us know in the comments section.