YouTube and its parent company Google have been under regulatory pressure in South Korea over the way YouTube Music was bundled into the YouTube Premium subscription there.
The country’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) investigated whether this was anti-competitive, but since April this year Google has been negotiating a ‘consent decree’ with the regulator to head off punishment.
This week, the details have been confirmed. The Korea Herald reported that Google will launch YouTube Premium Lite in South Korea, minus the music service, by the end of this year. “As part of the settlement, Google has also committed 30 billion won [$20.5m at current exchange rates] to a co-prosperity fund dedicated to supporting Korea’s music industry,” noted the report.
YouTube remains the biggest music-streaming service in South Korea according to recent figures, although Spotify has been surging there since launching its free tier in the country.
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