What is YouTube Music? Google's music streaming service explained

(Pocket-lint) - YouTube Music was announced successful 2018, truthful is simply a comparatively caller euphony streaming service, but has travel to regenerate Google Play Music. With YouTube Music, you tin perceive to authoritative songs, albums, playlists, creator radios, remixes and unrecorded versions of songs arsenic good arsenic ticker euphony videos. 

It is simply a free-to-use work if you don't caput listening to adverts each fewer songs, disposable done a mobile app oregon web player. A YouTube Music Premium tier is besides disposable to region the adverts, springiness you inheritance listening connected your mobile instrumentality (so you tin exit the app and proceed listening) and to fto you download songs for offline playback. 

What you can't bash with YouTube Music, is ticker non-music vids, specified arsenic cats playing the piano, oregon Charlie having his digit bitten, crossed the remainder of the YouTube site, but determination is plentiful entree to euphony videos done the app.

• YouTube Music vs Spotify vs Apple Music vs Amazon Music Unlimited: What's the difference?

How does YouTube Music work?

Like different euphony streaming services, YouTube puts a batch of attraction connected its find features. It says euphony is "easier to explore" with the Music work and has an extended catalogue not lone of authoritative songs, but of remixes, unrecorded performances, covers and euphony videos to propulsion successful too. 

The location screen, whether you're utilizing the app oregon the web player, is ever changing. It updates to supply recommendations based connected your listening habits, but is besides location-aware and tin connection immoderate euphony choices to lucifer what you mightiness beryllium doing. 

It's based astir 3 tabs, Home, Explore and Library. Home is simply a substance of everything, Explore lets you easy find caller music, similar caller releases, arsenic good arsenic dive into moods oregon genres. The Library tab serves up playlists arsenic good arsenic immoderate imported euphony you brought implicit from Google Play Music and immoderate euphony you person connected your mobile device. Whether you're utilizing the web mentation oregon the mobile app, euphony you imported from Google Play is disposable successful both.

Videos besides person large prominence successful the app arsenic good arsenic the browser, and erstwhile you prime a opus successful the app you'll often beryllium capable to prime whether you privation to perceive to the opus oregon ticker the video. You tin besides power partway through, which is simply a large feature. When utilizing YouTube Music successful a browser it's evidently a video-based acquisition similar the remainder of YouTube.

You tin besides similar oregon dislike euphony and this volition assistance Google tune the enactment of euphony that you're recommended, truthful if you don't similar Ed Sheeran, you tin springiness him the thumbs down and you'll spot little Ed Sheeran.

Do I person to sign-in to usage YouTube Music?

No, you don't. You tin usage the app connected your telephone to play euphony that you person connected your instrumentality without signing in. If you person a batch of purchased euphony connected your instrumentality you tin entree this and play this music. It volition beryllium sorted by playlist, album, creator and opus and it volition play successful the inheritance erstwhile the surface is disconnected too.

You don't person to motion into the web mentation either: you'll get the ad-supported mentation of YouTube Music truthful you tin ticker and perceive connected your laptop. If you bash motion into the web version, you'll get entree to immoderate euphony you transferred implicit from Play Music successful your browser too.

If you privation to usage immoderate of the streaming broadside of the work done the smartphone app, you'll person to motion into your Google Account. The app doesn't adjacent amusement immoderate of the streaming contented without signing in. But erstwhile you do, you'll beryllium capable to entree the escaped work with nary subscription necessary. That volition fto you perceive to the tracks and ticker the videos, with occasional adverts. If you don't person a subscription, you won't beryllium capable to person inheritance playback either, i.e., arsenic soon arsenic you crook disconnected the display, the euphony volition stop.

There is simply a workaround, however.

How to play YouTube Music successful the inheritance without a subscription

There's a tiny loophole that volition fto you play the escaped mentation of YouTube Music connected your instrumentality without having a subscription. It's fundamentally the aforesaid process needed to play YouTube successful the backgound, which we detailed for the iPhone here.

Here's however to bash it:

1. Head to music.youtube.com successful your instrumentality browser.
2. Open the settings and prime desktop mode.
3. Press play connected the euphony you privation to perceive to.
4. Turn disconnected the display. 
5. If the euphony stops, aftermath to the standby surface connected Android and look for media controls, and it play. On iPhone, swipe to the power centre and property play.
6. The euphony should past commencement playing again.

To beryllium honest, it's a spot of agelong workaround and Android phones grip euphony successful somewhat antithetic ways, truthful it mightiness not enactment connected each models, oregon you mightiness person to find oregon alteration the playback controls connected your lockscreen.

What happened to Google Play Music?

Google started shutting down Play Music successful September 2020, retiring the aged work and suggesting that users determination themselves implicit to YouTube Music instead. That sees the extremity of euphony purchases from Google, moving to a streaming offering instead. Google has provided a method for moving your erstwhile Play Music purchases implicit to YouTube Music instead, truthful if you person a catalogue of purchased (or imported) euphony successful Play Music, you'll beryllium capable to get to that successful YouTube Music.

We person afloat instructions connected however to bash that close here.

The Play Music work volition beryllium unopen down and cease to exist, with YouTube euphony being the work that Google offers instead.

How overmuch does YouTube Music cost?

YouTube Music is disposable arsenic a escaped ad-supported tier, overmuch similar Spotify. But there's a drawback for the mobile app, due to the fact that you can't usage it to play euphony successful the inheritance (although, spot above). For astir people, subscribing is going to supply the champion experience.

You tin suffer the adverts and summation offline listening with a YouTube Music Premium subscription:

• Student: $6.99/£6.99
• Standard: $11.99/£11.99
• Family: $17.99/£17.99

If you are a caller user, determination are tons of proceedings options - you tin get escaped months oregon there's a two-week no-risk proceedings too. Just support clicking astir and you'll beryllium offered these trials.

What's the YouTube Music app similar to use? 

The YouTube Music app is remarkably elemental successful layout and easiness of use. Its location surface is tailored towards your idiosyncratic creator choices - which you prime during your archetypal sojourn - and is intelligibly laid retired truthful you tin find recommended playlists and videos instantly.

The main unsocial diagnostic is that due to the fact that its tracks are gleaned from the full gamut of contented disposable connected YouTube, determination are thousands of performances you cannot get anyplace else. And they are each disposable to presumption arsenic video too.

There are controls wrong the app to set the streaming quality, done low, normal, precocious and ever precocious and these values tin beryllium selected for some mobile and Wi-Fi streaming. You tin besides opt to play little prime video connected mobile and HD lone connected Wi-Fi. 

There's a restricted mode to trim explicit-flagged songs, though this isn't protected, truthful the idiosyncratic tin ever crook it disconnected - and it relies connected the creator having flagged the contented arsenic explicit.

You tin besides download euphony for offline listening, either idiosyncratic tracks oregon full playlists oregon albums. This volition mean you tin perceive without streaming either to prevention information oregon for erstwhile you're travelling - and there's an enactment to bounds streaming to Wi-Fi only.

Writing by Max Langridge. Editing by Cam Bunton. Originally published connected 18 May 2018.