YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by the American video platform YouTube, a subsidiaryofGoogle. The service is designed with a user interface that allows users to explore songs and music videos on YouTube based on genres, playlists, and recommendations. In April 2023, the service expanded its offerings to include support for podcasts.[6]
YouTube Music also features a premium tier that provides several benefits to subscribers. These include ad-free playback, the ability to play audio in the background, and the option to download songs for offline listening. These benefits are also available to subscribers of YouTube Premium. On December 1, 2020, YouTube Music replaced Google Play Music as Google's primary brand for music streaming.
The YouTube Music app was unveiled in October 2015 and released the following month; its release came alongside the unveiling of YouTube Premium (originally called YouTube Red), a larger subscription service that covers the entirety of the YouTube platform, including the Music app. Although redundant to Google's existing Google Play Music All Access subscription service, the app was designed for users who primarily consume music through YouTube.[7][8]
On May 17, 2018, YouTube announced a new version of the YouTube Music service, including a web-based desktop player and redesigned mobile app, more dynamic recommendations based on various factors, and the use of Google artificial intelligence technology to search songs based on lyrics and descriptions. In addition, YouTube Music became a separate subscription service (positioned as a more direct competitor to Apple Music and Spotify), offering ad-free and background/audio-only streaming, and downloading for offline playback, for music content on YouTube. The service's benefits will continue to be available as part of the existing YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red) service and to Google Play Music All Access subscribers. The YouTube Music subscription is priced in line with its competitors at US$9.99 per-month; the price of YouTube Premium was concurrently increased to $11.99 for new subscribers.[9][10]
YouTube Music became available on Google Assistantsmart speakers (including Google Nest smart speakers) on April 18, 2019, with feature-limited ad-supported playback available for non-subscribers in only a limited number of countries.[13]
The availability of music includes many releases from mainstream artists and extends to any video categorized as music on the YouTube service.
YouTube Music initially operated parallel with Google Play Music, but the latter was shut down in December 2020.[14] Product manager Elias Roman stated in 2018 that they aimed to reach feature parity with Google Play Music before migrating users to it, but as of 2024 this has not been achieved.[15][16][17]
In September 2019, YouTube Music replaced Google Play Music in the core Google Mobile Services bundle distributed on new Android devices.[18][19] In May 2020, an update was released to allow imports from Google Play Music, including purchased music, playlists, cloud libraries, and recommendations.[20] The service still contains regressions over Google Play Music, including no online music store functionality (cannot purchase songs), and a YouTube Music Premium subscription being required to cast cloud library speakers to Google Nest smart speakers. Google stated that they planned to address this and other "gaps" in features between the services before Play Music is shut down. However, at the time of the shutdown, most feature gaps had not been addressed.[16][17]
A "pre-save" feature for upcoming releases was added in May 2020.[21]
In February 2023, YouTube Music launched Radio Builder, a free and from anywhere accessible web service for both paying subscribers and free users with iOSorAndroid devices. It allows users to create a custom radio station, selecting up to 30 artists with an option to hear only their songs or from comparable musicians.[22][23][24]
In April 2023, podcasts were added to the service, initially for users in the US only with a worldwide rollout planned later in 2023.[6][25]
The free tier plays songs in its music video version where applicable. The premium tier plays official tracks of the album unless the user searches for the music video version. YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium subscribers can switch to an audio-only mode that can play in the background while the application is not in use. The free tier does not allow audio-only mode with background playback as it displays video advertisements.[8]
YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium plans are available in individual and family variants. A family plan allows up to six family members from the same household to access plan features. Eligible students can obtain a discount on an individual plan.
