YouTube plans subscription service in US with no adverts

YouTube is launching a subscription plan in the US this month that will give users unlimited advert-free access, as well as the media site's music streaming service.

The new plan, called Red, is targeted at those users who frequently click to skip adverts, and will remove them completely for those willing to pay 10 US dollars (£6.50) a month.

No date or price for the service in the UK has been confirmed.

The fee will also be used to support high-profile creators on the site, with YouTube confirming they will share in the revenues with the Google-owned company.

The move to a paid-for, ad-free version of the site puts YouTube in line with streaming services such as Spotify that offer both a free and paid-for version of their service.

Those who join Red will also get exclusive access to new videos launching next year.

Subscribers will be able to use YouTube Music Key, the site's service for streaming music videos. This will enable them to download videos and play them offline, or play them in the background while using other apps.

Some reports have suggested the move into subscriptions could be the beginning of a YouTube play to challenge Netflix and Amazon Prime on the video content front, though both remain extremely popular.

YouTube has been branching out recently, adding the Music Key service and a new dedicated site for video game content called YouTube Gaming.

Red will launch on October 28 in the US.