The new subscription service will require a monthly fee to watch videos or listen to music without ads, on any device, even when not connected to the internet. YouTube will start Google-wide internal testing of the subscription-based offering in the coming days, before making it available to the public later in the summer, Kyncl said.
The independent labels, which are represented by the rights agency Merlin, disagree with the terms offered by YouTube. XL Recordings, whose artists include Adele and The XX, and Domino, the label behind the Arctic Monkeys, are understood to be among the indie labels holding out for a better deal, according to the report. Impala, a trade body for independent music companies, is appealing to the European Commission for assistance, arguing that YouTube has abused a dominant position in the market to force small record labels into accepting unfavourable terms. Kyncl said such concerns were unfounded.
