A teardown of the recently updated Android YouTube app has revealed evidence of a forthcoming YouTube music subscription service called Music Pass.
Version 5.3 of the YouTube app is now available to download from the Google Play Store, but hidden within its code are a number of teasing snippets of information for a major future development in the video service.
Android Police has discovered mention of Music Pass, a subscription service that would offer ad-free uninterrupted playback, offline video, and background music listening whilst you’re using other apps.
On the offline video component, it seems as if you’ll be able to save entire playlists for later offline viewing, at least for a limited time. There are mentions of these offline versions having an expiration time. It also appears as if you’ll be able to specify either 360p or 720p for the quality of your offline videos.
All of these mentioned features are ones that YouTube doesn’t currently offer in its free ad-funded form. It seems as if Music Pass will essentially be an evolved form of the service that enables ad-free offline viewing, as well as the ability to use YouTube as a background music player, for a small monthly fee.
Rumours of such a service have been circulating for some time now, starting back in March with industry sources talking of a Spotify-like service from YouTube. Then, at the end of October, more industry sources confirmed that a forthcoming premium music and video service was in the works.
The big question is, when will YouTube launch its ambitious subscription service to the public?
Read More: Google Music All Access vs Spotify
