14 DAY TRIAL // Some new details on the rumored upcoming music streaming service from Google have surfaced, apparently the service will fall under the YouTube umbrella and not be a part of the existing Google Play Music.
It's a strange choice perhaps, but it makes some sense, the fact is a lot more people listen to music on YouTube than they do on Google Music.
It's also very likely that it's going to stay that way. Google has been trying to compete with Apple and Amazon with its Music store and cloud locker service, but the "me-too" service hasn't been particularly popular and for good reason, it doesn't bring anything new.
Google should be focusing more on what people want and do rather than try to emulate the somewhat limited success of others.
Google hasn't confirmed anything, but it did say that there is some interest in a subscription model for YouTube. That could mean a video subscription model though, not necessarily a music one.
The online music streaming space is small and rather crowded, but there's plenty of potential. Most of all, it makes sense for Google to double down on what people already clearly want.
Many, many users already listen to a lot of music on YouTube, there are plenty of "videos" that are just the song with a static image. Consistently, the most popular videos on the site are music videos.
Yet, Google has done little over the years to cater to these users, little to make music listening a better experience.
That's not to say the rumored subscription service is going to change that, but it could be a move in the right direction. A product that offered better management coupled with YouTube's already huge inventory could be a big hit.
But there are plenty of variables, it remains to be seen how tied into YouTube the new service will be, if Google manages to get it off the ground at all, it's relationship with the music labels is anything but friendly.