To me, the re-introduction of the $8/month fee for Google Play Music All Access (mercifully rechristened as Google Play Music) is the most important part of thi

To me, the re-introduction of the $8/month fee for Google Play Music All Access (mercifully rechristened as Google Play Music) is the most important part of this announcement. Apple is reportedly wooing publishers to allow them to sell Beats subscriptions for $5/month, which matches the average spending for top iTunes customers. If iTunes' best customers spend $60/year, asking $120/year from EVERYONE seems ridiculous. Spotify recently tried to address this flaw with family plans that drop the cost to $6/month for a family of five -- but that's still too much hassle in what should be a dead-simple transaction. Steam demonstrated the revenue potential of irresistibly priced digital goods a decade ago... I don't know why music has been so slow to catch up. - - - - - The Youtube Key portion of the announcement is great, I guess, but not for me personally. I don't watch many music videos and have been able to download them forever through third-party extensions anyway. However, in the audience that DOES watch music videos -- young, female, often tech-illiterate -- there's quite a bit of money waiting to be tapped. Years ago, iTunes scored big by offering that demographic hassle-free music downloads rather than piracy or CD ripping. I doubt ad-free YouTube is as compelling an offer, but it's probably worth something to regular visitors; and if Spotify/Beats/Play/Rdio are fungible, then maybe YouTube Key will be the unmatchable add-in that sells Google music subscriptions. Lower prices are probably more valuable to customers than ad skipping is, though.