YouTube Music: A guide to Google’s streaming music service
YouTube is themost popular online video streaming platform. Still, its music streaming counterpart isn’t as well known, especially when compared to Spotify. YouTube Music has much to offer, including exclusive features, such as transforming covers, live performances, and other video content on YouTube into songs. Users can effortlessly play these tracks, add them to playlists, and download them for offline listening.
You’ll also discover that YouTube Music performs well in suggesting personalized tracks, artists, and albums. A big reason for this is that it uses the same recommendation algorithm as YouTube, which is good at recommending content. It’s also preinstalled on devices running Android 9 and newer, making it easy to try. Let’s look at Google’s music streaming service and whether it’s the right streaming platform for you.
Googlelaunched YouTube Music in October 2015, together with YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium), to offer a combined video and audio streaming subscription. The service was initially meant to offer offline video viewing, as well as the possibility to play YouTube videos in the background. It was geared toward people who consumed music by playing videos on YouTube instead of using a traditional audio-centric service.
Things have evolved since then, and YouTube Music gradually became redundant with Google Play Music. YouTube Music evolved to include a music catalog, in addition to the millions of music videos available on YouTube. It superseded Google Play Music and became Google’s flagship music streaming service in 2020.
Google prices YouTube Music in line with the competition. A standard subscription costs $12.99 per month, and a family one is $20.99 per month for five people, and for students, it’s $6.49 per month. There’s also an option to buy an annual subscription for $109.99 when paying upfront, helping you save about $45 a year. However, annual plans cannot be paused. All plans include offline playback, ad-free music, and background listening. There’s also a free, ad-supported one, which is useful if you have aGoogle Nest speakerat home and don’t mind commercial interruptions.
YouTube Music is more interesting than the competition when bundled with YouTube Premium. All YouTube Premium subscriptions include YouTube Music, in addition to removing pre-roll and mid-roll ads, allowing you to download videos for offline playback and to play them in the background. These extra features, together with a YouTube Music subscription, cost $16.99 a month for an individual plan or $32.99 for a family plan that you can share with up to five people.
YouTube Music’s competition
YouTube Music mostly makes sense compared to the competition when it’s bundled with YouTube Premium. It’s still an excellent service when purchased separately, but you’ll have to gauge which experience works best for you compared to other providers, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. The best way to do that is to try them out, especially since most offer a free trial for the first month.
If you don’t have time to look atTidal,Deezer, andApple Music, we put together a comparison ofYouTube Music versus Spotify, helping you get a better picture of which solution works best for you.
How to use YouTube Music
If you’re convinced YouTube Music is the right service for you, try it for a month and see if you love it. Here’s how to get started:
Now that you’ve installed the app, it’s straightforward to use. The Home tab shows personalized recommendations based on what you listen to and your favorite artists. The Explore tab helps you discover new tunes based on charts and releases. Your Library is where you’ll find your playlists and saved songs.
There’s an option to cast songs to your speakers, either in the upper-right corner on most screens or on the album cover when playing content. If you use an Android, you can seamlessly control music playback on your speaker using the Google Assistant app on your phone. Say, “Hey Google, stop,” “pause,” or “playon.
you may also access YouTube Music from your PC or Mac bynavigating to the desktop siteand casting to your speakers from your web browser. The interface is similar to the one on your phone, making it easy to find your songs and playlists.
When listening to a song, use the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons to save songs you like and improve recommendations.
If you make YouTube Music your daily driver, check out ourlist of tips to help you get startedand make the most of your subscription.
Should you switch?
You now know more about YouTube Music and its advantages. The app has almost any song you can think of. Besides singles, albums, and playlists from big names in the scene, you’ll find local artists and remixes. This alone is worth giving it a spin if you’re a music enthusiast, especially since you can try it out for free. It offers a better value when it’s bundled with YouTube Premium, as a single subscription covers both services and unlocks a handful of useful features. Whichever service you subscribe to, use it with a pair ofgreat wireless ear budsto enjoy your favorite tunes while discovering fresh hits.
The note-taking app I should have used all along
Broader branding hints at wider paid-tier ambitions
Samsung’s making a bold move
You can now learn languages too
I played the opening mission of The Outer Worlds 2 and really enjoyed what I experienced
An advanced, compact, purpose-built device
