• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 11, 2017

TV/video platforms taking on music? Music platforms taking on video? Digital media companies are all in these days.

The news is that YouTube -- the dominant, free, ad-supported digital video platform -- wants to start an on-demand music subscription service to compete with Spotify, one of the biggest digital music platforms.

YouTube’s music subscription service, with the working title Remix, will begin in March. It would include YouTube video clips, as well as on-demand streaming music. Warner Bros. has already signed on — and it is in talks with -- other big labels.

Earlier this year, Apple Music decided to up its video game. It looks to spend $1 billion on video content in the near term, rising much more aggressively in the coming years.

Many wonder whether Apple Music can form a bridge -- between Netflix and Spotify. It makes sense, given the flexibility of these digital media platforms.

For its part, YouTube already has a major music presence, including many dedicated channels from Vevo and others.

YouTube has plenty of TV-video brand extensions -- YouTube Red, its subscription on-demand TV platform, and YouTube TV, a virtual pay TV live, linear service of networks. No doubt many more are to come.

TV consumers are looking for alternatives to traditional live, linear pay TV services -- from cable, satellite or telco operators. Digital media provides those alternatives.

All that begs the question: Will consumers pay for music on YouTube when they already get it for free?