Monday 23 / December / 2024
Muscat: Video streaming giant YouTube has brought its premium video service, YouTube Premium, and music streaming service, YouTube Music, to Oman. YouTube (YT) is launching its service parallelly across most GCC countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar in addition to Lebanon. YouTube Music, a music streaming app, offers people a new way to experience the music they love through a versatile catalogue of official songs, albums, covers, videos, live performances and more. The key features of YouTube Music include a rich musical catalogue, from official singles and albums, to covers and remixes, YT users can listen to the song, explore the album it’s part of, watch its videos, and also discover its remixes. In addition to this, it also features smart search, a feature to help users find songs with just a few lyrics, and a ‘Discover Mix’, which features on the home tab new music based on past listening habits and user likes. There is also the ability for people to download up to 100 songs from YouTube for offline listening. “For over a decade, millions of people in the Arab world have come to YouTube to watch, learn and listen. Music is the second most popular category on YouTube and it continues to grow. We’re excited to launch YouTube Music which will give our users access to the massive YouTube music catalogue, helping them find the music they love, from new releases to iconic classics and from viral covers to live performances,” said Tarek Abdalla, regional director of marketing at Google Middle East and North Africa. He added: “We’re also excited to launch YouTube Premium, an ad-free subscription service that allows our users to watch all videos on YouTube without ads including offline viewing, background play and other amazing features.” YouTube Premium, a paid subscription of the YouTube app, offers ad-free viewing, background playing, offline access, as well as, access to a YT Music subscription. YouTube Premium will provide members four features: ad-free viewing, background play — where audio will continue to play even if a user exits the YouTube app — offline access where users can download any video on YouTube to watch whenever they want, and a YouTube Music subscription which enables them to listen to music offline and without ads on the YouTube Music app. T. Jay Fowler, director of product management for Music Products, at YouTube said, “We’re proud that the Middle East’s rich musical heritage has a home on YouTube and we’re excited about bringing it closer to our users with YouTube Music. "We built YouTube Music to help people find and enjoy the music they love whether it's through official releases or iconic music videos, bringing artists closer to their fans. YouTube Music will help people expand their musical world and tastes because it’s a smart service that also helps you discover new music and artists they are sure to love.” YouTube Music subscriptions start at 1.99 OMR (19.99 AED, OMR, 4.99 USD) and YouTube Premium at 2.39 OMR (23.99 AED, 5.99 USD). Both services will roll out to all users in the coming weeks, starting September 10. Samsung Galaxy users in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Oman can enjoy up to 4 months of free, uninterrupted, ad-free access to YouTube Premium.
