YouTube Music

YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by the American video platform YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. It provides a tailored interface for the service, oriented towards music streaming, allowing users to browse through songs and music videos on YouTube based on genres, playlists, and recommendations. Support for podcasts was introduced in April 2023.[6]

YouTube Music
Screenshot of YouTube Music on the web as of August 2023.
DeveloperYouTube
Key people
  • Neal Mohan (YouTube CEO)
  • T. Jay Fowler (Director of Product Management)
  • Lyor Cohen (YouTube Global Head of Music)
Launch dateNovember 12, 2015 (2015-11-12)
Platform(s)
Members80 million paid subscribers (as of September 11, 2022)[1]
Availability104 countries; mostly in the Americas, Europe and Oceania, and in parts of Africa and Asia (see full list)[2][3][4][5]
WebsiteYouTube Music

The service also offers a premium tier, which enables ad-free playback, audio-only background playback, and downloading songs for offline playback. These subscription benefits are also offered to subscribers of YouTube Premium. The service superseded Google Play Music as Google's main brand for music streaming on December 1, 2020.

History

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]

In 2018, YouTube Music reached multiple sponsorship agreements with Dick Clark Productions to serve as a partner for its television specials Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and the American Music Awards.[11][12]

YouTube Music became available on Google Assistant smart 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]

Features

The availability of music includes many of the 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 2021 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 iOS or Android 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 USA only with a worldwide rollout planned later in 2023.[6][25]

Subscriptions

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]

Subscription Ads Skipping and Scrubbing Offline Mode Background playback Audio quality
Free Ad-Supported Unlimited Podcast Only Podcast Only 32, 48, 64, 128 kbit/s OPUS
32, 48 kbit/s HE-AAC, 128 kbit/s AAC[26]
YouTube Music Premium None Unlimited Available Available All free tier qualities, including 256 kbit/s AAC
YouTube Premium None Unlimited Available Available All free tier qualities, including 256 kbit/s AAC

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.

Geographic availability
Countries in which YouTube Music is available

The service is available in 104 countries: American Samoa, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Nepal, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia (Temporarily Suspended), Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United States Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam.[27][28][29][5]

See also

References
  1. Aswad, Jem (November 9, 2022). "YouTube Music and Premium Soar to 80 Million-Plus Paid Subscribers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  2. Deahl, Dani (June 18, 2018). "YouTube Music and YouTube Premium officially launch in US, Canada, UK, and other countries". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  3. Gao, Richard (June 18, 2018). "YouTube Premium and Music launch today in 17 countries, including Canada and 11 European countries". Android Police. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. "Paid memberships available locations - YouTube Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  5. Michail (June 10, 2020). "YouTube Premium and Music now available in 14 more countries". GSMArena. Archived from the original on October 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  6. Malik, Aisha (April 27, 2023). "YouTube Music officially rolls out podcasts for listeners in the US". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  7. "Exclusive: An inside look at the new ad-free YouTube Red". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  8. "YouTube Music isn't perfect, but it's still heaven for music nerds". Engadget. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  9. "New YouTube Music Premium costs $9.99 monthly, add $2 to get all Red perks". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  10. "Google announces YouTube Music and YouTube Premium". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  11. Spangler, Todd (August 22, 2018). "YouTube Music Signs American Music Awards Two-Year Title Sponsorship Deal". Variety. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  12. Hayes, Dade (November 13, 2018). "YouTube Music And Dick Clark Productions Extend Partnership For 'New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest'". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  13. "YouTube Music is now free with ads on Google Home devices". TechCrunch. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  14. "Info about the Google Play Music phase-out". Google. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  15. "YouTube Music will eventually get Google Play Music's best features, including user uploads". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  16. Amadeo, Ron (August 4, 2020). "Google Music shutdown starts this month, music deleted in December". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  17. Amadeo, Ron (June 24, 2020). "With YouTube Music, Google is holding my speakers for ransom". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  18. Welch, Chris (September 27, 2019). "YouTube Music will now come preinstalled on Android devices". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  19. "YouTube Music will be preinstalled on Android 10 and new Android 9 devices". TechCrunch. September 27, 2019. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  20. Welch, Chris (May 12, 2020). "YouTube Music can finally import your library and uploads from Google Play Music". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  21. Al-Heeti, Abrar. "YouTube Music now lets you pre-save albums". CNET. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  22. "YouTube Music will let you make your own custom radio stations / You". The Verge. February 21, 2023. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  23. "With 'Radio Builder', create your own custom station on YouTube Music: All you need to know". Hindustan Times. February 23, 2023. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  24. "YouTube Music launches 'Radio Builder' feature, allowing users to create custom stations based on favorite artists". Business Insider. February 22, 2023. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  25. Chan, J. Clara (February 25, 2023). "YouTube's Podcast Play Comes Into Focus Amid Skepticism From Creators". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  26. "Youtube Format IDs · GitHub".
  27. "System requirements & availability". Google Support. Google Inc. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  28. Ivan (November 14, 2018). "YouTube Premium and Music Premium expand to seven new countries". GSMArena. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  29. "YouTube Premium and Music expand to 8 new countries in the Middle East". Android Central. September 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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