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YouTube Music now available in Indonesia
Stay tuned: A user opens the YouTube Music application
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Stay tuned: A user opens the YouTube Music application.(JP/Donny Fernando)
Video platform YouTube has introduced its own music streaming service, YouTube Music, to the Indonesian market, approximately a year after they were officially launched in 17 other countries.
YouTube Music is a stand-alone app geared toward music in the same way as Spotify and Deezer, separate from the main YouTube app, which is for general video content.
The venture is not parent company Google’s first foray into the music streaming service. YouTube Music was preceded by Google Play Music in 2011. Google Play Music comes preinstalled in Google’s Android phones and will be replaced by YouTube Music in future Android versions, starting with Android 10.
YouTube Music contains the regular categories typical of streaming apps: artists, new releases, liked songs and the like. Content classified as music on the main YouTube app will be available on YouTube Music, including covers, remixes and playlists.
As a nod to the platform’s main content of videos, users listening to a song will be able to switch to the music video version by tapping a button, which will bring them to the same point they left off in the audio version.
When logging in for the first time, users will be asked to select their favorite artists to fine-tune recommendations using Google’s machine learning technology.
Those who opt to provide their location to the app will find personalized recommendations based on their music preferences at that location, which can be done by filling in the home and work addresses. Recommendations will also differ during daytime and evening and will vary for each user.
Features included in the release include the Smart Search function, with which users can search for a particular song even though they do not know the name or the artist.
YouTube Music product manager Brandon Bilinski provided an example by searching using song lyrics, which will show the correct song on the app. However, he noted that misheard lyrics are also common and will also be taken into account in the search bar.
“So, if I search for the words ‘I’m a hot pie’, and it’s actually the song ‘Only Girl in the World’ by Rihanna. That’s not actually the correct lyrics to the song, but we know enough people have messed up the lyrics that we understand what song you’re trying to find,” Bilinski said through video link from San Bruno, California.
Also of note is the Smart Download function, which will automatically download up to 500 songs during the evening using Wi-Fi for users to listen to when they do not have a network connection. The song list will be generated based on the user’s listening preferences and habits.
However, Smart Download and downloading content for offline use in general is limited to paid subscribers only. Subscribers will also be able to play and run the app in the background for multitasking, as well as remove ads entirely.
Prices for the subscription start at Rp 49,000 (US$3.49) per month for YouTube Music Premium, but users can also extend the benefits to the main YouTube app for Rp 59,000 per month. Family plans with up to six accounts are also available starting at Rp 75,000 per month.
Users who subscribe by Nov. 26 will also be eligible to get the first three months free of charge.
The ad-free experience is a rather interesting point, as uploaders receive monetization from their videos by sharing the advertising revenue with YouTube.
Reuben Van Den Heuvel, head of music content partnerships for Southeast Asia and Oceania, said that the licensing agreements are paid by both the ad support and the subscription fees.
“While we don’t reveal how those deals are structured, we pay the record companies for the master rights, the publishers for the underlying copyrights for the composition of lyrics.
“Those payments come together to make sure everybody that has provided content that somebody streams on YouTube that’s paid for regardless of whether it’s in an advertising environment or a paid subscription environment,” he said.
