So this just happened. YouTube has now officially launched a paid premium service for music streaming.
In a seeming move away from the business model that made Google, well Google, they are shifting away from providing users a "free" experience -- be it music, social media, video, mail, docs, platforms, etc -- in exchange for advertising (and data of course) to a business model that will charge a monthly subscription fee for an ad-free environment.
For now I watch this with utmost curiosity and wonder if consumers will pick up on this and how it will impact Google, the music industry and other music streaming services like Spotify.