The service is set for launch in late October for the United States at a price of $9.99 per month. Then Google will expand the service all over the world. Aside from the exclusive shows, YouTube Red paying users will get access to all YouTube videos ad-free and be able to download them for offline viewing. The new service will also bundle in a subscription to the Google Play Music audio-only streaming service, which will extend and replace the YouTube Music Key service.
The company also promised to launch a standalone YouTube Music app by 2016, thus gathering official and fan-uploaded music videos into one place. Paying viewers will be able to sign in to the app for an ad-free or offline experience. Google also explained that YouTube Music would sit alongside YouTube Kids and YouTube Gaming as standalone apps. The former launched in the United States earlier this year and is set to expand to the United Kingdom by 2016, while the latter launched globally in the summer.
At the same time, Google announced that 99.9% of the content on YouTube will remain free, but ad-supported, like it always has been. Only some videos will be taken away from YouTube’s free service, including videos of creators and media partners who don’t agree to license their videos for YouTube Red.
