music.youtube.com
Clearly, YouTube is a streaming service that needs no introduction. It is, by far, the largest video streaming platform in the world, with billions of active users and countless video uploads. YouTube just keeps growing by the day (by the minute even!). In some ways, YouTube could be said to be the original video streaming site.
The opening of YouTube's video streaming capabilities allowed other sites to gain a foothold in the market and make video streaming more popular. This includes sites such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
YouTube's latest endeavors tell the tale of a website that is able and willing to adapt with the times, as well as expand their reach into other digital spaces.
Most people turn to YouTube to watch music videos when an artist releases a new one. YouTube has essentially become similar to MTV in that when an artist releases a new music video, it is usually the first place that people go to watch it.
Although music videos today lack the same cache that they had in the past, they are still an integral part of a musician's promotional efforts. And YouTube has been central in providing a platform for these music videos to be seen.
But even outside of official music videos, I have also been navigating my browser to YouTube for over a decade now when I want to hear music that I cannot find on any of the other standard music streaming services? This is because people (read: YouTube users) will often rip and upload audio content as YouTube videos, making it possible for anyone to access it - be it a leak, an exclusive release, or anything else.
YouTube has been a reliable source of listening to music from lesser-known artists, as many of them have their own YouTube channels from which you can access their music when Spotify or Apple Music may fail you.
The fact that YouTube has been used as a sort of de facto music streaming service for years means that it makes sense for them to create their own official music streaming service in the form of YouTube Music. However, how does YouTube's streaming service stack up to its competitors like Spotify or Tidal? Let's take a look and see, shall we?
History
The YouTube Music app was announced in October of 2015. It officially launched the following month along with its much-promoted streaming service, YouTube Red. Although YouTube Music has been criticized for being too similar to the already existent Google Play Music service, it was meant for people who have used YouTube specifically for their music listening needs. So, imagine Google Play but with the branding and iconic layout of YouTube instead.
A few years later, on May 17th, 2018, YouTube announced that they would expand their YouTube Music service to include a desktop media player site. The expansion also resulted in a total redesign of the app, including a new and improved algorithm and more accurate and dynamic recommendations based on users' listening habits.
The new algorithm took advantage of Google's artificial intelligence to allow for YouTube music users to search songs based on lyrics and descriptions - a totally new and revitalized way of suggesting music to listeners. Plus, with this whole rebrand, YouTube Music also repositioned itself as a solo music streaming service, putting itself in direct competition with services like Spotify and Apple Music. YouTube Music, with this change, is still available as a portion of YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red), as well as a part of Google Play All-Access.
Design
Many people have gripes with the traditional YouTube site's design, citing issues such as cluttered content and a lack of intuitive app layout. However, the new YouTube Music service may be the best example of site and app design that YouTube has put together. It is sleek, user-friendly, easy to use, and easy on the eyes.
Despite some potential design problems, YouTube Music appears to function well and look good. The site is easy to search and browse, seeming to have taken a lot of inspiration from Spotify. Even if you aren't familiar with other music streaming services, you will be able to use YouTube Music like a pro almost immediately.
Content
This is one of the areas that sets YouTube Music apart from its competitors, in my opinion. Because not only do you get to choose from about the same number of songs that can be found on Spotify (30 million and counting), but YouTube Music is also fed right into your YouTube views, meaning that it gets smarter at a much faster rate. Plus, in addition to 30 million+ official music videos, YouTube Music provides quick access to all of the music videos on YouTube - a level of content that no other music streaming app can really boast.
YouTube Music offers a great variety of playlists put together by experts and algorithms, making it one of the best music streaming services out there. Plus, depending on your subscription package, you can also download and listen to music offline and fully integrate YouTube Music with Google Play and Google Home devices.
The most exciting feature of the app is its ability to search songs by lyric and music description. This is truly the next level in music discovery.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I have already commented on how I love the design of YouTube Music. The website is attractive, with traditional YouTube and Google Play usage combined. The desktop version is also user-friendly and perfect. Therefore, you can be assured that the desktop (and mobile web browser) version of the site is excellent.
However, the app is not without its flaws. For instance, it can be difficult to locate specific songs on the app, and it may not be as user-friendly as some of the other music streaming apps out there.
Pricing and Plans
There are three subscription plans available for YouTube Music: a free trial, a paid plan without ads, and a paid plan with ads. If you choose to subscribe without ads, you can expect to have limited offline listening options and the inability to play music in the background. If you subscribe with ads, however, you can use the service without interruption and enjoy ad-free listening as well as the ability to play music in the background.
YouTube Music Premium provides unlimited online, offline, and background listening at a better sound quality with zero ads. This costs $9.99 per month.
Last, you can access YouTube Music by signing up for YouTube Premium, which costs $11.99 a month. This will get you everything that YouTube Music has to offer, as well as completely unlock your general YouTube experience (no ads, background play, etc.).
Suggestions that I have for YouTube Music
: I believe that YouTube Music should expand their horizons and allow for music to be streamed in audio form from all sources, including songs on YouTube videos. This would benefit lesser-known artists who may not have a large enough following yet to get their music on other streaming services.
YouTube Music truly is a game changer. The things that they are doing with smart search and AI algorithms will surely inspire their competitors to step it up as far as tech is concerned in the years to come. And for the price, you really can't go wrong.
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