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.

That puts YouTube in competition with music services including Spotify, Rdio and Beats Audio with its Music Key service. And it signals that YouTube is not just about video anymore.

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