Looking for another sign that YouTube Music is mixing it with the established streaming services? Here it is: Google’s late-entrant to the subscription market is now offering cheap rates to students.

The student subscription has long been a key weapon in the sales and marketing arsenal of streaming’s big two, Spotify and Apple Music. And now YouTube has launched a student tier that will get you YouTube Music Premium for just $4.99, and YouTube Premium for $6.99 – although students who sign up by January 31, 2019 can lock in the full YouTube Premium service for just $5.99. The standard rates are $9.99-per-month for YouTube Music Premium and $11.99 for YouTube Premium.

At the moment the rates are only available to full-time students at accredited colleges and universities in the US, although it will expand to more countries in the future.

It’s the latest move from YouTube, which launched its long-awaited subscription service earlier this year and, according to UK label sources, has made an impressive start amongst UK consumers.

Of late, however, YouTube has reignited its row with the music industry over Article 13, which could damage its improved relations with rights-holders.

* To read about the real “unintended consequences” of YouTube’s Article 13 row, click here.

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