Micro: YouTube tunes up paid Music Key service

Next week, YouTube is launching a music subscription service that will include ad-free music and music videos. It will cost $7.99 a month in an introductory promotion. Credit: YouTube

Have you ever noticed that there are lots of music videos on YouTube? It's no accident, and next week, YouTube is finally launching a long-rumored subscription music service called YouTube Music Key.

At a cost of $7.99 a month (with an introductory discount; it’ll go up to $9.99 later), users will have access to ad-free music and music videos on their computers and mobile devices. Apart from the music videos, other features include offline listening/viewing and what YouTube is calling high-quality audio. It also includes access to the Google Play Music service.