YouTube Music is Google’s music streaming service that will replace Google Play Music. Featuring YouTube’s varied archive, the platform differs from the competition by offering remixes, alternate versions, live performances, clips, and videos extracted from the video site.
The app offers free subscription plans, downloads to listen offline, and official apps for Android and iOS phones that run right in the browser on Windows, macOS, and Linux PCs. Check out the features of Google’s music streaming service below and see if it is worth subscribing to YouTube Music.
How YouTube Music Works
YouTube Music is Google’s music streaming service, linked to YouTube, which offers a catalog made up of albums, single songs, clips, covers, and even lives performances. The platform can be accessed for free, but there are also subscription plans that remove advertisements and offer some other advantages.
Like other services of the type, YouTube Music has algorithms that promise to adjust the recommendations of new songs and artists according to the user’s preferences, allowing you to find something new and explore the service catalog.
The platform supports the creation and sharing of playlists and allows the user to upload music to listen to it from anywhere. It is also possible to access the tool on several devices since YouTube Music has an official app for Android and iOS mobile phones, as well as a version for browsers, which allows you to enjoy the service on your computer.
Prices and Plans
The platform offers a completely free basic plan. In this mode, it is possible to use the service normally, but with some restrictions: the first of these is that advertisements will be displayed during the music intervals. Another restriction is that it is not possible to leave the app running in the background. Also, the free option does not allow downloading music to listen offline.
The subscription eliminates all these restrictions. With it, there are no ads, you can leave YouTube Music playing in the background and even download songs to listen to when not connected. At the moment, a YouTube Music subscription costs $9.99 a month with the first month free.
Another option is to subscribe to YouTube Premium, a package that is not only valid for YouTube Music, but also for conventional YouTube. Currently, the plan costs $11.99 per month.
YouTube Music Catalog
According to official YouTube figures, the service currently offers over 50 million titles to users. That total includes songs and full official albums, such as those found on other services, but also material that YouTube claims are not available elsewhere, such as remixes, live recordings, covers, and studio versions that were not taken advantage of by the artists.
The number of “more than 50 million” is the same as Spotify claims to have in its catalog today. However, on this platform, the offer of extra tracks and versions that escape commercial studio recordings is not so evident.
Main features
The great advantage of streaming compared to other services is the integration with YouTube. This means that the entire history of music heard on YouTube is automatically part of YouTube Music. Thus, likes and history of the video site are used to form the suggestions and favorites lists and will be ready for you when you use Music for the first time.
Another highlight is the recommendation system, which invites the user to choose some artists for the first time using the service. These initial choices are used to better rank the platform’s suggestions, which become more accurate as new searches are performed.
Like other services, YouTube Music allows you to listen to music offline through downloads and offers the ability to upload music to the platform, allowing you to stream this content from any device.
Compatible Platforms
The platform offers versions for Android and iOS mobile systems, in addition to a web version that runs on Internet browsers. You can also access YouTube Music on Android TV. Also, there is compatibility with Amazon devices, such as Echo speakers that support the Alexa wizard.
Differences from competitors
The great advantage of the platform is the integration with YouTube, which ends up providing a greater variety of options in the catalog of the service, such as live presentations or even video clips.
Where Google’s music streaming should be ahead, is the offer of an app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Unlike rivals like Spotify, YouTube Music can be used on Internet browsers.
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