YouTube's subscription service "Music Key" is launching in beta next week

If you’ve been waiting for YouTube‘s subscription service, Music Key, to launch, your wait is almost over. The company plans on rolling out the first round of beta invites this coming Monday (11/17), along with a 6-month free trial and promotional pricing.

Before we get into the details, YouTube has long been rumored to release a streaming service, offering ad-free videos, downloadable audio, concert recordings, and exclusive band content. The service will have access to Google Play Music‘s whole library, and will also offer offline playback on audio and video. It’s been rumored that Google has added over 20 million high quality tracks and videos to Music Key already, so there certainly won’t be a lack of content with the service.

As for specifics, Music Key will launch at a promotional price of $7.99/month, and will then be offered at a normal rate of $9.99/month. And if you’re one of the lucky ones to be chosen for the first round of invites, you win yourself 6 months of the service for free. Music Key will also launch with a new music category in YouTube, that offers all music videos, as well as recommended content based on your music taste. Not sold on the price? The subscription service will be available for free to everyone, but will have ads enabled. So, there is a way to still experience Music Key’s content without ever having to pay a dime.

Beta invites will begin rolling out to lucky users beginning Monday, and you can sign up for the program here. Everyone who signs up likely won’t get in right away, but there’s nothing to lose.

Gone are the days when we have to choose between audio files or videos. Now it’s all in one place, and that’s huge. Thinking of all of Music Key’s features, would you pay for a service like this? Let us know if you’re signing up or not!