SAN BRUNO, Calif., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- YouTube announced Wednesday its launch of YouTube Red, a subscription service for users to pay a monthly fee to watch videos without ads.
The service, set to launch Oct. 28,, will also allow users to save videos for offline playback and play videos in the background, which can be useful for streaming music. It will cost $9.99 a month, but a free trial will be available for U.S. users.
The current ad-supported YouTube site will remain unaffected.
One YouTube Red membership can extend across multiple devices and apps, including YouTube's recently debuted Gaming app, as well as a YouTube Music app that will be available soon. The Music app aims to introduce users to new musicians more easily, by immediately aggregating related artists and songs after a user selects an initial song.
YouTube Red will work with Google Play Music, so subscribing to one service will grant access to the other.
Original material from YouTube stars and videographers will be available exclusively on Red beginning in early 2016 as "Originals."
TechCrunch reports that revenue from the YouTube Red subscription service will be split between YouTube and the rights holders of the content that is made available through the service. YouTube said various independent creators, television networks, movie studios and record labels have signed on to the program.
