YouTube today announced YouTube Premium and YouTube Music, services that replace YouTube Red and YT Music, respectively. Moving forward, YouTube Premium will be the video site's top-tier service, offering originals, ad-free play, background play, and downloads across YouTube. Google says YouTube originals include content such as the Karate Kid-inspired series Cobra Kai, with many more on the way from the U.K., Germany, France, Mexico, and more. YouTube Premium will offer subscribers an ad-free experience with no mandatory pre-roll advertisements. Moreover, videos that permit downloads can be stored locally on phones and tablets for offline playback, as well as played in the background as users multitask. YouTube Premium will cost $11.99 per month (for new members), which is more than the $9.99 subscription for the outgoing YouTube Red service. Google says people who already subscribe to YouTube Red will be able to keep their current pricing. Google didn't say anything about family pricing plans. YouTube Premium rolls out soon in existing markets, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Korea. It’s also coming soon to Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. The new YouTube Premium subscription includes the new YouTube Music. Google is relaunching YouTube Music on May 22. "YouTube was made for video, not just music," said Google. "We’ll be changing that by introducing a new music streaming service made for music with the magic of YouTube: making the world of music easier to explore and more personalized than ever." YouTube Music will include official songs and albums from artists around the world, as well as thousands of playlists, radio stations, remixes, live performances, covers, and music videos. To accompany the service, YouTube has a reimagined mobile app and a brand new desktop player that are designed specifically for music playback. Google says people will be able to search based on partial lyrics, or keywords based on the artist or video. The service will personalize the home screen for each subscriber and dynamically recommend new music based on listening history. An ad-supported version of YouTube Music will be offered for free. The paid service, which includes an ad-free experience, background play, and downloads for offline playback, will cost $9.99 per month. Subscribing to YouTube Premium, at $11.99 per month, includes YouTube Music. The new YouTube Music will be available in the same markets as YouTube Premium. Google Play Music will remain as-is.


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