YouTube and Google have made several attempts to create paid music platforms. The latest effort, YouTube Red, blended music and video content. YouTube Red combined several different properties into one subscription, replacing YouTube Music Key and integrating with Google Play Music. However, the companies have not disclosed many details about how many people subscribe or how much money the program generated.
Many music industry groups have been critical of YouTube. The two complaints most often levied against the video platform are that managing copyright infringements is resource-intensive, and that YouTube doesn’t deliver enough revenue in proportion to how much content people consume.