Google to Launch YouTube Red to Enter the Subscription Streaming Market

Google-owned YouTube will enter the subscription streaming market next week, launching the new YouTube Red, an ad-free video and music streaming service with a monthly fee of $99.9, and $12.99 monthly for iOS users.

Tech Times reported that YouTube will launch its new service on October 28 after multitudes of fans demanded that they want to watch their favorite videos uninterrupted.

According to Forbes, offline and background play features are YouTube Red's major selling points. It will also offer users their favourite YouTube stars such as PewDiePie and Lilly Singh. These features will be exclusive to YouTube's new service.

YouTube Red will be going up against major streaming players including Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu and more. Customers already have plenty of other options to choose from for streaming services. YouTube Red's major advantage, however, is its original content and popular stars. Netflix and Hulu are even cheaper at $7.99 a month while Amazon Prime Instant Video is only at $99 a year.

The Verge explained that advertising is the major source of income for YouTube. The site is expected to earn some $5 billion in revenue by the end of 2015. With the subscription, advertising won't be the sole source of income for the online video service. Subscribers will also be able to download videos for offline viewing. It also allows users to play videos in the background of their phones. This means you can listen to a music video or motivational talks while you do other activities in the phone. The monthly fee will give users access to Google Play Music. YouTube will also put new, exclusive videos behind a paywall.

YouTube will have new Originals exclusive for subscribers. The giant video service plans to team up its popular stars with Hollywood talent backed with Google funds. YouTube hopes that PewDiePie-type videos will have series that are as good as HBO's Game of Thrones.