YouTube music service delayed until early 2014

YouTube’s music service looks like being delayed until the first quarter of 2014. The company has not announced an official release date. But leaks from within had first suggested the launch to be in mid-summer. In October, word came through that it would be by the end of 2013.

Now a source close to the AllThingsD website revealed a further wait of a few months.

According to the site, YouTube has all the licensing deals in place. But YouTube is apparently not 100% happy with the product at the moment. One of the issues is to find the most effective way of integrating user-generated content like lip-syncs and mashups with professional recordings.

The YouTube service is said to be like Spotify but with videos. There will be a free version and a paid premium version to give unlimited access to ad-free music and artists, and offline storage.

Google, which owns YouTube already has a monthly music-subscription service called Google Play Music All Access.