YouTube Remix On-Demand Music Subscription Service Tipped for March Release

A new rumor is circulating that claims YouTube is getting ready to launch a new music service in March. According to people claiming to be familiar with the matter, the new service is called YouTube Remix and it's Alphabet Inc's latest attempt to combat Spotify and Apple in the music industry. The same sources claim that one major music label, Warner Music Group, has already signed on.

Warner is one of the three major music labels globally. YouTube is reportedly in talks with the other two global music superpowers: Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music. YouTube is also in negotiations with Merlin, a consortium of independent music labels according to the sources.

While streaming services were first feared to be detrimental to the music industry, Spotify and Apple Music have helped the music industry recover. Bloomberg reports that the industry is growing again after nearly 20 years of declining sales. The record labels have long criticized YouTube for not giving them enough money for the music videos and other content artists have on the streaming video platform.

Music is one of the largest draws on YouTube with the genre bringing YouTube over than a billion viewers per month. YouTube has been trying to lure in paying subscribers, without the success of Spotify so far. Google started out with Google Play Music back in 2011, YouTube Music Key then landed allowing fans to watch videos without ads. That Music Key service then turned into YouTube Red, the latest commercial-free offering form YouTube.

Remix would reportedly take a page from Spotify and provide on-demand streaming and would offer video clips in addition to audio streaming. YouTube is reportedly reaching out to artists to get help in promoting Remix right now and has hired a former Warner music exec called Lyor Cohen to oversee its music operations.