YouTube’s streaming music service, YouTube Music has arrived in South Africa. The ad-supported version of the service is free, but users will have to pay for the Premium, ad-free version which also lets them download content. New users can try Premium for free for three months, after which it’ll cost R60 a month for a single-user plan, or R90 a month for the family plan, which supports up to six users per household.
In addition to allowing for offline or background listening (in other words, while using other apps or services), Premium includes a feature called Offline Mixtape that automatically downloads songs you’ve played frequently so you’ll always have something to listen to even when you’re not online.
There’s also a “smart search” feature that makes it easier to find songs you may not know the title of. Users can search using descriptions or lyrics, and the feature supports isiZulu and isiXhosa.
If you’re an existing Google Play Music subscriber you’ll automatically receive access to YouTube Music Premium. You’ll also be able to access anything you’ve purchased or uploaded to Google Play Music and your existing playlists will carry over.
The new YouTube Music app is available to download from the Play Store and App Store right now. Alternatively, users can access the web player at music.youtube.com and can sign up for a free trial of YouTube Music Premium here.
