INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightYouTubeImage caption
YouTube announced the expansion of its subscription services at a London press
conference
YouTube is expanding its subscription-based music and video services to the UK and a further 11 countries.The
"premium" facilities strip ads from the platform's content and allow it to be downloaded rather than just streamed.The music service is
priced at the same rate as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal's basic service.However, the wider video content - which supersedes YouTube Red -
is available only at an additional cost.It includes about 65 series - including several exclusives featuring popular YouTube video-creators
which is significantly more than either Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.This may make it a challenging sell to users attracted by the
exclusive video content but who are already satisfied with a rival music-streaming service.One company executive, however, suggested that
what made the proposition compelling was the fact that videos could be played without ads, offline and/or in the background while apps were
in use."I'm trying to say to people that it's not a new music subscription or a new Svod [subscription video-on-demand]
It's really YouTube done better, with those additional things thrown in," Luke Hyams, European chief of YouTube Originals, told the
TheIndianSubcontinent.Canada, Ireland, France, Russia and Germany are among the other countries gaining the services.'It's all here'YouTube
Music Premium works on Android and iOS phones and tablets, as well as Google's Home smart speakers, but not Amazon's Echo devices.Image
copyrightYouTubeImage caption
YouTube Music automatically downloads suggested playlists for offline playback
In time, the plan is for it to replace the existing Google Play Music app.YouTube's pitch is that "it's all here" - a reference to the
fact that it hosts live recordings, remixes, covers and mash-ups that are unavailable elsewhere.In addition, the company claims to have a
superior search facility to those of its rivals, allowing users to find songs even if they provide muddled-up versions of the
lyrics.However, none of this is exclusive to the subscription service, so its appeal will in large part rest on users' desire to be able to
listen to the songs without an internet connection.The Verge review site described YouTube Music Premium as a "legitimate challenger" to
Apple and Spotify's offerings, when it was launched in the US last month.However, it noted that the lack of a desktop app and the use of
location data to provide recommendations might deter some.YouTube starsThe video package - called YouTube Premium - is based on a library
of original content produced for the YouTube Red service over the past two years.Until now, it had been limited to the US, Australia, New
Zealand, South Korea, and Mexico.Image copyrightYouTubeImage caption
The Sidemen Show is a new show featuring a group of
YouTubers who have more than three million subscribers
Two new shows are being launched to coincide with the wider
rollout:F2 Finding Football - the two British hosts of F2 Freestylers, which is described as YouTube's most popular football channel,
explore the sport's cultural impact around the worldThe Sidemen Show - an existing group of seven YouTube videomakers from the UK are posed
challenges by a number of celebrities, in a programme described as being a mix of The Inbetweeners and Top GearYouTube Premium also contains
more traditional content, including a follow-up TV series to the 1980s' Karate Kid films, and a spin-off show to 2008's sci-fi movie
Jumper.But one expert said YouTube's fastest route to building up an exclusive deep library of content would be to call on its homegrown
stars.Image copyrightYouTubeImage caption
Cobra Kai is set 34 years after the original Karate Kid movie's events
"YouTube already has a great network of people producing material for it, and it won't be short of pitches from them," said Hannah
Bowler, from the trade magazine Broadcast."If it ramps up its commissioning, it could build up a slate of content quite quickly."The risk,
however, is that many of YouTube's most popular creators end up spending most of their time making content for a section of the service
unavailable to most of its users, which in turn could make the wider platform less appealing.
