YouTube announced that it will be hosting an event this Wednesday in Los Angeles to formally introduce details about its long-rumored paid video service. Google has been slowly moving toward this shift for months, and the event this week could reveal the culmination of its efforts to create both a more lucrative Netflix- or Hulu-style paid subscription and a formal music streaming platform. Continue Reading
Midia Research founder Mark Mulligan analyzes the “freemium” space by comparing YouTube (and its new Music Key subscription service) to Spotify and Pandora. YouTube has changed from a marketing tool to a full-fledged listening destination, the author asserts, and should be modeled more like Pandora than Spotify. Continue Reading
With the “freemium” model of ad-supported, semi-interactive listening under attack in some quarters, YouTube has formalized whole-album listening in its new YouTube Music section. The impact might be to raise consumer expectation of a highly interactive feature in a free, ad-supported service. Continue Reading
In an initiative marked by repeated long delays, it is perhaps unsurprising that Music Key, YouTube’s new music subscription service which was supposed to start today, has been pushed back to tomorrow. In other Music Key news, it is widely reported that a rumored subscriber connection between Music Key and Google’s audio-only subscription service, All Access, will indeed happen. Continue Reading
Rio Caraeff will step down as CEO of Vevo at the end of 2014. CFO Alan Price will serve as the interim leader for the video hosting service while the company looks for a full-time replacement. Vevo has had a rocky year, and the launch of YouTube Music Key is also a potential risk for Vevo’s business. Continue Reading
Thought leader and guest contributor Mark Mulligan looks at just-launched YouTube Music Key, and digs into a series of questions about artist response, the fate of music video service Vevo, the potentially changing price point of music subscription, and a YouTube identity crisis. Continue Reading
After over a year of rumors, hints, announcements, delays, and public wrangles with labels, Google’s YouTube platform has unveiled Music Key, the new music service. The launch is partial, and Music Key is more complicated than expected. Continue Reading