Report: YouTube Looks To Take On Pandora And Spotify

Ready To Stream Music

GOOGLE is reportedly getting close to entering the streaming music business, as FORBES reports "In what appears to be a clone of SPOTIFY's streaming music model, GOOGLE-owned only video power player, YOUTUBE, will make a play for eardrums. Operating on a ad-supported or paid subscription model, the streaming music product has been in the works and rumors have been swirling."

The move would be a welcome income stream for the music business. FORBES notes, "Now that APPLE's iTUNES, AMAZON.COM and GOOGLE's YOUTUBE are all in the streaming game, recording and entertainment companies could secure higher prices for their content than they have with SPOTIFY, according to GIGAOM reporter JEFF JOHN ROBERTS."

Just last month (NET NEWS 2/26), ALL ACCESS reported great news for the music business, as sales broke a 12-year losing streak in 2012, posting a 0.3% rise in revenues to $16.5 billion, based on figures from the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE PHONOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY. It was digital sales that showed the most growth, and compensated for losses in physical revenues for the first time. Streaming music services led the way, with subscription services such as SPOTIFY and DEEZER "coming of age" last year, according to the IFPI. It's expected they will cross the 10% mark as a share of total digital music revenues for the first time.

That music will be streamed on two platforms. One will be through its GOOGLE PLAY platform; the other will be through a YOUTUBE music service.  PCMAG confirms that GOOGLE-owned YOUTUBE is in preparation to launch a subscription music service later this year. Unlike GOOGLE MUSIC, where users can buy and store tracks via GOOGLE PLAY, YOUTUBE's service will offer users to listen to tracks for free, though subscription options for ad-free listening are likely.

"While we don't comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that," the a GOOGLE spokesperson said.

WMG is reportedly already on board.

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