Skip to main content

Design problems are delaying YouTube’s new music service

There’s been no official word yet, but we’ve seen enough rumors and murmurings to be pretty confident that Google is working on a YouTube-based music subscription service, even though it already has Google Play Music in its portfolio. The video-sharing site is awash with music, both authorized and unauthorized, and for many people it’s the go-to service for free tunes.

The last we heard of the YouTube ‘Music Pass’ was that it would launch sometime during the course of 2014 with both a free level and a subscription level that removed ads (as well as enabling extra features such as offline playback). Now a fresh rumor courtesy of the Verge suggests that design issues are holding up the launch.

Recommended Videos

Apparently Google executives are insisting that the platform is competitive right from day one — the powers-that-be are reluctant to launch a beta product that’s refined over time, as is often the case with Google services. With all of this internal wrangling, we won’t be enjoying a YouTube-powered jukebox experience any time before the summer.

An executive briefed on the plans told Billboard the company was determined to “get it right” from the beginning. Google already has deals with the major labels in place, so only the logistics of how the platform will work need to be ironed out. “They feel that there’s just too much scrutiny of this product, and that they need to get it right out of the gate,” said the senior label executive.

Sticking points mentioned by Billboard include the way the service will integrate with the functionality that YouTube already offers, and the content that will be shown alongside music that doesn’t have an official video — ideas around album artwork, artist bio information and iTunes-style visualizations have all been floated.

With the likes of Spotify, Rdio, Beats Music and others already on the scene, it’s understandable that Google is waiting until it can make the biggest splash possible. If you’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new service, you’ll have to console yourself with the thought that it should be a polished and feature-rich experience, once it finally does arrive.

David Nield
Former Contributor
Dave is a freelance journalist from Manchester in the north-west of England. He's been writing about technology since the…
How to download music from SoundCloud on desktop and mobile
Soundcloud Interface on a Macbook.

If you're a die-hard music fan, you probably keep a curated library of playlists packed with your favorite artists and albums on Spotify, Apple Music, or whatever your favorite music streaming app is. But how do you discover the best indie artists today? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating the ‘unsung gem’ acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music that’s a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums.

Read more
The best kids headphones of 2025: for fun, safety, and sound
Two kids using the Puro Sound PuroQuiet Plus to watch something on a tablet.

Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that there’s an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think “kid-friendly,” sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. That’s not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.

We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children aren’t harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight.

Read more
How to master your equalizer settings for the perfect sound
An equalizer from eqMac.

Casual listeners might boot up Spotify or turn on the radio to listen to music without giving the balance or sound stage much thought. Audiophiles on the other hand like to dig a bit deeper and customize their experience. One common way to tinker with how music sounds is adjustments to the equalizer, which offers the freedom to tweak every aspect of the sound booming out of headphones or speakers. Even some streaming services now have built-in EQs, giving you more ways than ever to play with your music and find something that best fits your ears.

Shaping the equalizer to your preferences can be daunting to newcomers, as there are tons of cryptic settings you can manipulate. And if you mess with the wrong one, your sound quality might take a nasty hit. Thankfully, learning the basics isn't too difficult.

Read more