YouTube Music streaming service goes official, starts May 22

YouTube was expected to launch a dedicated music streaming service for quite some time and it only makes sense since many go to the video portal for their musical fix already. The company has now officially announced its plans with the actual start of YouTube Music scheduled for next week.

On May 22, YouTube will officially launch its music streaming service that will be available for free but, of course, it will surely come with some restrictions. We assume background playback is going to be one of them as well as the inclusion of ads.

A YouTube Music Premium account will cost you $9.99 each month removing the ads and restrictions but it's still double what Spotify charges in most countries in Europe so we'll see what other perks Google plans to throw in justify the difference. Unfortunately, though, there are no official statistics disclosing the size of the music library.

In the official blog post, the company outlines some of the unique features of the streaming service available through the stand-alone Android and iOS apps and desktop player. An advanced search will help you find a particular song even if you don't know the name; personalized home screen for discovering new music that adapts and changes dynamically and per-occasion playlists and recommendations.

And if you are already a YouTube Red (soon to be YouTube Premium) or Google Play Music subscriber, you get YouTube Music Premium at no extra charge. However, if you are not a member and plan to go for the bundle in the future, the whole premium streaming service will set you back $11.99.

The service will initially launch in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea and soon expand to Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

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