YouTube

More details have leaked about Google’s upcoming subscription service for YouTube, these in the form of screenshots posted by Android Police on Monday. The service, called YouTube Music Key, will give subscribers ad-free and offline playback of YouTube videos, as well as audio-only material. Per the screenshots, users will be able to play music on Continue Reading →

Children under the age of 13 are a massive and relatively untapped market for internet companies due to federal privacy laws, but now Google is ready to risk those treacherous legal waters in order to sign them up. According to the Information (subscription required), Google is preparing features like a kid-safe version of YouTube and Continue Reading →

YouTube launched a redesigned HTML5-based TV interface on Thursday that will put a stronger emphasis on your playlists and the channels you subscribe to. This new version is rolling out for the Xbox One now and will find its way to other connected devices like the PS3, Roku, smart TVs, streaming players and Blu-ray players Continue Reading →

In its latest effort to boost advertising by small businesses, Google said its YouTube unit had acquired Directr, a mobile-video app used by small businesses to create marketing videos. No purchase price was disclosed. Directr offers a mobile app for Apple’s iOS platform that makes it easy for small businesses to shoot, edit and upload Continue Reading →

When videos blur, buffer, or won’t play altogether, YouTube is now pinning the blame on your internet service provider. “Experiencing interruptions?” reads the message in a blue bar underneath choppy video, as seen in the above screenshot. Clicking “find out why” brings you to Google’s new website, where it displays video playback quality for internet Continue Reading →

VidCon, the largest online-video convention in the United States, kicked off its weekend-long run on Thursday evening with a keynote address from YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. There, the company’s new leader announced a slew of creator-friendly additions and upgrades to the YouTube service—perhaps most notably, support for increased video frame rates. Though she was unable Continue Reading →

On Tuesday, news broke that YouTube would begin blocking videos from artists on indie labels that had not signed on to its new terms, a set of contracts it’s making partners agree to before it launches a paid streaming service later this year. Fans and artists were understandably upset, but YouTube insisted that the majority Continue Reading →

There’s been some brouhaha about YouTube blocking a huge swathe of music videos before launching its paid Spotify rival. The truth, however, is a little more nuanced. Labels who haven’t signed up to the website’s new terms, the majority of which are independents like XL Recordings, will have their artist channels blocked in the next Continue Reading →

YouTube will launch a new subscription music service, the company acknowledged Tuesday after being dragged into a public dispute over royalties that will result in the blockade of some independent artists’ music videos. The Google Inc.-owned video site said in a statement that it is “adding subscription-based features for music on YouTube” and that “hundreds Continue Reading →

It’s official: Google is about to ruin YouTube. A company exec told the Financial Times it will start blocking videos from record labels that refuse to sign licensing deals for its forthcoming premium service, YouTube Music Pass. This is the dumbest thing Google could do, and it threatens the very heart of what has always Continue Reading →