What you need to know

• YouTube Premium announces an AI-generated playlist feature is arriving for on its app, and Music Premium users are included, too.
• Users can use this by tapping "new" in the Library tab and tapping "AI Playlist" to begin chatting with the AI.
• YouTube introduced "taste match" playlists for Music users last year, as well as an AI test for playlist artwork.

YouTube's rolling out an update for its Premium users across the board that adds a new AI feature for playlist creation.

The platform announced its update via an X post, stating that YouTube Premium and Music Premium subscribers will soon find "AI Playlists" available in the app. From your Library tab, YouTube states users can navigate to the plus icon (New) to find an AI Playlist option available to interact with. The app will simulate a chat thread with the AI, letting users instruct the bot on what they want it to create.

After a brief moment, the AI will provide its results. Users can then save that playlist or, what's also likely, redo their instructions for something more refined.

YouTube adds that users can also use their voice to speak to the AI, rather than typing out their request. The post adds that users can "instantly turn an idea, mood or genre into a personalized playlist using our new AI playlist feature." The rollout still appears to be quite slow for Premium and Music Premium users, as many in the X thread haven't seen it yet.

Those who have gotten their hands on it are already critiquing the feature. Some users seem to want more personalization and customization (such as the ability to be more in-depth), while others are seemingly receiving the wrong set of music.

Musical genius

YouTube's slowly been ramping up the amount of AI present in its playlists for Premium users. Recent updates include "taste match," a feature that lets users combine their musical interests with others. These joint playlists are updated daily, and feature profile icons beside songs to show whose taste profile its come from. At times, you'll match, though there are times when you both might find something new.

Elsewhere, YouTube Music launched an AI-generative test for artwork creation. This artwork test was for playlists, giving users a way to customize the faces of their playlists. YouTube gave testers options such as theme, as well as the ability to edit descriptions to guide the AI in the right direction. This latest AI playlist generation update comes days after users noticed that YouTube Music removed lyrics from free users, locking them behind a paywall.

Android Central's Take

What you need to know

• Google has closed a loophole that let Android users play YouTube videos in the background without a Premium plan.
• The workaround relied on mobile browsers like Samsung Internet or Brave to enable background playback for free.
• Google says background playback is meant to stay exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers on mobile devices.

Google has officially confirmed that it is closing a loophole that allowed Android users to play YouTube videos in the background for free.

YouTube Premium offers several perks, including an ad-free experience, the ability to download videos for offline viewing, and background playback on mobile devices. Until now, however, many users have relied on a workaround to access background playback without paying.

Android users commonly used third-party browsers like Samsung Internet, Brave, or Vivaldi to open YouTube's mobile website and accessed background playback from there. Google has now confirmed that this workaround no longer works.

In a statement to Android Authority, Google confirmed that YouTube has been updated so non-Premium users can no longer access background playback through mobile web browsers. The company reiterated that background playback is intended to be exclusive to YouTube Premium subscribers.

Early reports of the workaround breaking surfaced via PiunikaWeb, with users noticing that the feature had stopped working. Google has now confirmed that this behavior is intentional.

Now, when you play a YouTube video in a web browser using a non-Premium account and lock your device, playback controls disappear from the lock screen. You can't resume playback manually either. Even tapping the play button does nothing, as YouTube appears to be blocking background playback entirely on its end.

Android Central's Take

This move felt inevitable. Google has already been cracking down on extension-based ad blockers, and closing this loophole fits that broader approach.

While the company is within its rights to reserve the feature for YouTube Premium subscribers, background playback still feels like a basic feature. Even as a Premium subscriber myself, I know plenty of people who relied on this loophole, and its removal is definitely going to sting.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music now syncs your queue across phone, tablet, and web, so you can switch devices without losing your place.
• A new “From your device” label shows where your current queue came from, making transitions clearer and less confusing.
• Your most recent session takes priority, ensuring the latest queue is always front and center.

If you’ve ever switched between your phone, tablet, and laptop and found YouTube Music’s queue stuck on the device you started with, there’s now a much better solution.

After years of listeners dealing with separate queues, YouTube Music is finally adding real cross-device queue syncing (via 9to5Google). Now, you can start a playlist on your phone and continue with the same queue on your tablet or in your browser. There’s no need to rebuild your lineup or guess where you left off.

For a long time, YouTube Music’s Now Playing queue was separate on each device. The Android and iOS apps kept their own lists, and web players sometimes pulled from mobile, but it didn’t always work. Switching devices usually meant starting with a new lineup and losing your groove.

Pick up where you left off

That’s changing now. The service will sync your queue across all devices you’re signed into. When you open the app after using another device, you’ll see a label like “From your iPhone” or “From your browser” in the miniplayer until you press play. It’s a small touch, but it directly addresses a common frustration for users.

YouTube Music prioritizes your most recent listening session, so your latest queue is the one you’ll see on other devices.

With queue syncing, YouTube Music now matches popular music streaming apps like Spotify Connect, which has let users control music across phones, browsers, speakers, and more for a long time.

This update changes how you use the app. If you switch between devices — commuting with your phone, relaxing with a tablet, or working on the web — you finally get a listening experience that truly continues wherever you go.

Android Central's Take

In my opinion, this is the most important update YouTube Music has had in years. It’s one of those "finally" moments that makes the service feel like a premium product. The biggest benefit for me is how much easier it makes my day. I can switch from a workout playlist to a focus playlist without having to search for the right track, which is a huge improvement. If Google can keep this momentum up, it might finally convince the die-hard Spotify fans that the grass is actually greener — and more synchronized — over here.

Apple services haven't always remained locked inside the walled garden. In fact, Apple first made a name for itself in the consumer tech space with the iPod and iTunes, which were both compatible with Windows PCs in addition to Macs. Apple Music is following suit, as the music streaming service is now widely available on platforms like Android, Windows, Google TV, and ChromeOS. There's also a web app for Apple Music that can be accessed on virtually any device.

I've been a fan of Apple Music since it was called Beats Music before the Apple acquisition. Since then, the music streaming service continued to win me over, adding features like Dolby Atmos and lossless audio support while keeping prices low. I've acknowledged that Spotify and YouTube Music were better options for Android users in the past, but it's getting harder and harder to make that argument.

Specifically, Spotify's consistent price hikes and YouTube Music's missing support for high-fidelity audio make them tougher to recommend, even for Android users. If those two streamers aren't the best option for Android users, their next pick might be Tidal or Amazon Music Unlimited. Both are quality options that remain competitive with Apple Music. But I'd bet that if Apple Music were made by any other company, it'd be an instant Android hit.

Where Spotify is falling short

Spotify is the largest music streaming service, with over 700 million monthly active users and roughly 281 million subscribers as of 2025. It's a music streaming giant in every sense, with over 100 million songs available for listening and downloading. Spotify is also incredibly expensive, with the company's most recent price hike raising prices by a dollar or more across all of its subscription tiers.

Spotify was already one of the more expensive streaming services. The platform's individual plan now costs two dollars more per month than the likes of YouTube Music, Apple Music, and Tidal. Amazon Music Unlimited is $1 cheaper monthly for everyone and $2 cheaper for Prime members. It's a relatively small premium to pay, but over time, the extra costs add up.

People typically flock to Spotify for its excellent algorithms and recommendations. The platform's social features, including the famous Spotify Wrapped experience, are another appealing aspect of the service for fans. I tend to view these extras as both a blessing and a curse. While they're sometimes neat, others are unnecessary — like Spotify DMs — and add bloat to an already-overloaded music app.

I could ignore them, but the larger issue here is that Spotify is paying someone to develop and maintain these features. If my music streaming bill is $2 higher each month so that my music app is cluttered with another messaging inbox, I won't be happy.

What about YouTube Music?

If Spotify is out, YouTube Music sounds like the next sensible option for Android users. YouTube Music is a streaming service that's hard to judge, mainly because it is bundled with YouTube Premium for $13.99 per month. While you can subscribe to YouTube Music Premium individually for $10.99 monthly, the YouTube Premium bundle is certainly the better value. With that being said, YouTube Music Premium is an outstanding perk of subscribing to YouTube Premium, but it struggles to stand on its own.

Those who thought Spotify was bloated might be even more disappointed with YouTube Music. It now serves as Google's primary distribution channel for podcasts, cluttering the app. You can also find audiobooks on YouTube Music, since the platform taps into the YouTube database. This comes with benefits and drawbacks — you can find niche content that isn't available anywhere else, but you might also be distracted by it.

YouTube Music's willingness to cram artificial intelligence into the app isn't inspiring for music purists, either. Most recently, it began testing AI-generated backgrounds for lyric cards. Many of YouTube Music's AI tools, including this experiment, come off as unnecessary.

The big reason YouTube Music's status as a serious music streamer is in doubt is its low song quality. I'll be the first to admit that lossless quality is unnecessary without the right gear. However, YouTube Music's mere support for up to 256kbps AAC or Opus is lacking even by lossy standards. It just isn't good enough, especially when it's missing Dolby Atmos too.

If you already planned to subscribe to YouTube Premium and are content with what YouTube Music Premium offers for free, by all means, keep using it. It's an excellent add-on to YouTube Premium. But until the streamer's sound quality and music features improve, it's impossible for me to recommend it as a standalone subscription.

Apple Music shines, even on Android

Then there's Apple Music, a fully featured, noncontroversial music streaming app for Android. The service costs just $10.99 per month while offering hi-res, lossless audio up to 24-bit/192 kbps (yes, that's higher quality than Spotify). There is also Dolby Atmos support, so you can take your pick of a lossless or immersive audio format.

Crucially, the app supports every feature Android users care about, including Google Cast.

I like that the Apple Music app isn't littered with unnecessary AI features or other media, like podcasts or audiobooks. It's all about music. There is a surprising amount of customization available, as the app allows users to manage animations, lyrics, listening history, volume normalization, crossfade, and audio quality.

Best of all, Apple Music supports importing libraries from YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and Tidal. If you're sticking with Spotify despite the price hike over fears of losing your library, fear not.

I've been a loyal Apple Music user for a decade and probably won't ever switch. I can't say it's the best music streaming service for everyone. However, it does offer the best music quality and feature set for the price point ($10.99/mo). If you've avoided the streaming service because it's hosted by Apple, you might be missing out.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is adding AI-generated backgrounds to lyric cards.
• Previously, users could only choose between solid-color backgrounds for lyric card sharing.
• Now, there's an option to liven up lyric cards — which can be saved to your device or shared with other apps — using generative AI.

Google is upgrading the lyric sharing feature in YouTube Music to add a touch of AI in its latest test. The experimental tool makes it possible for users to generate custom AI backgrounds for lyric cards as an alternative to a solid color. After generating an AI image, users can save the finished lyric card to their device or share it with third-party apps.

YouTube Music's AI-generated lyric card backgrounds are widely available across both free and Premium accounts on iOS and Android, as first spotted by 9to5Google. When viewing lyrics for a song in the YouTube Music app, the Share floating action button now has a Gemini sparkle icon, signifying the new AI-powered capabilities.

YouTube Music warns that you are "Creating with AI" when generating backgrounds, adding that "AI-generated images are based on text prompts and may sometimes fail to follow YouTube's policies, so use discretion before using them." You have to hit Accept to acknowledge these warnings the first time you try to create a song lyric background with AI.

When beginning to share a lyric card, a new AI background button will appear mixed in with the existing solid colors. After generating an image, which can take a few seconds, the button will turn into a refresh icon that'll give you the option of regenerating a new background.

The backgrounds generated with AI add a bit of variety to YouTube Music lyric cards. It may be Google's answer to Genius lyric cards, which use lifestyle photos of artists and album art to spruce up shared lyrics. However, the AI-generated backgrounds don't always match the theme of the song or the content of the lyrics.

YouTube Music's lyric cards include a miniature version of the song's album art, the track title, and the artist name. There's a large YouTube Music logo, and you'll now have the choice of either a solid-color background or an AI-generated one.

You can try out the latest AI-powered YouTube Music feature now in the iOS or Android app.

Billboard is a staple of the music industry, and the publication has been tracking the top-selling albums each week since 1940. Of course, the way we consume music has undergone multiple significant changes since then. Most recently, music streaming has completely taken over the industry, with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reporting streaming accounts for 84% of recorded music revenue in the U.S.

Since 2005, YouTube has been one of the biggest music streamers, especially for music videos. The platform began contributing to Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart in 2013, and started influencing the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart in 2019. In other words, YouTube has impacted at least one Billboard chart for more than a decade, but that's all changing next month.

Starting on Jan. 16, 2026, YouTube will stop reporting streaming data to Billboard. YouTube streams will no longer influence Billboard's top singles or albums charts, which instantly changes how the most popular songs on YouTube perform on the leaderboards. Whether you're a casual YouTube streamer or a die-hard music love, this change is going to affect you one way or another.

Why YouTube won't report to Billboard next year

In 2025, tracking the performance of albums and songs is a complicated effort. Music streams, album purchases, and everything in between need to be accounted for. Charts like Billboard use "album units" to gauge a song or album's relative success. One complete album sale equals an album unit, but multiple individual song purchases, paid song streams, or free and ad-supported song streams can add up to equal an album unit.

YouTube takes exception with that last part of Billboard's album unit calculation — free or ad-supported streams and paid streams aren't counted equally. If you stream a song on Spotify with a subscription, it'll be worth more than a free YouTube stream. Specifically, here's how Billboard currently calculates an album unit for its charts:

YouTube has had "extensive discussions" with Billboard about its calculations, according to a blog post. Billboard announced plans to add more weight to both paid and free streams earlier this month, which will take effect starting with Billboard charts dated Jan. 17, 2026. Thereafter, an album unit will equal 2,500 ad-supported streams or 1,000 paid or subscription on-demand streams.

"The change means that it will take 33.3% fewer ad-supported on-demand streams of songs from an album, and 20% fewer paid/subscription on-demand streams of songs from an album, to equal an album unit," according to Billboard.

So, while Billboard is narrowing the gap between paid and ad-supported streams starting next month, it hasn't met YouTube's demand. The Google-owned streaming platform wants full value parity between ad-supported and paid streams. Billboard isn't budging, at least for now, and thus YouTube is pulling its data from Billboard charts one day before the new streaming values take effect.

In YouTube's blog post, authored by global head of music Lyor Cohen, the company also pointed out that YouTube's music streaming data includes a mix of paid and ad-supported streams. Some stream with the ad-free YouTube Premium subscription plan, while other stream with the ad-supported free version of YouTube.

A spokesperson for Billboard said in a statement that "there are so many ways a fan can support an artist they love, and each has a specific place in the music ecosystem."

"Billboard strives to measure that activity appropriately; balanced by various factors including consumer access, revenue analysis, data validation and industry guidance," the spokesperson for Billboard continued. "It is our hope that YouTube reconsiders and joins Billboard in recognizing the reach and popularity of artists on all music platforms and in celebrating their achievements through the power of fans and how they interact with the music that they love."

Right now, it appears that both YouTube and Billboard recognize their mutualistic relationship in the music streaming industry, and left the door open for YouTube data returning to the charts. However, neither Billboard nor YouTube sounds ready to concede on the hard stances they've taken on album unit consumption weighting.

What it means for YouTube users and the music industry

For users, there will be an impact to the way you consume music on YouTube, with the severity depending on how much you care about supporting your favorite artists. If you want your top songs or albums to help an artist climb the Billboard Hot 100 or Hot 200 charts, you probably shouldn't stream on YouTube after Jan. 16, 2025.

Additionally, if you follow Billboard charts, expect overall streaming numbers to diminish immediately following the change, as music videos get billions of streams on YouTube. With those streams soon to be no longer factored into Billboard charts, the number of album units calculated overall will almost certainly be lower than usual. Songs, albums, and artists that earn more streams on YouTube than other platforms may see a considerable charting hit compared to others.

There's also a wider industry concern that music releases on YouTube could be deprioritized by artists and publishers if they are not making an impact on the Billboard charts, which are crucial for gauging an album or song's success. This sentiment is shared by TechCrunch, and if this turns out to be the case, it could directly affect people who stream music via YouTube.

My take on YouTube's decision to pull out of Billboard charts is that with this move, everyone loses. Billboard's data becomes less accurate as it misses out data from a key platform that represents billions of streams. YouTube gives die-hard music fans less of a reason to stream on its platform, and potentially strains its relationship with artists and publishers. And users could see fewer songs uploaded to YouTube if publishers don't find the platform as attractive.

YouTube's hard stance on counting ad-supported and paid streams equally is the wrong one. It leaves no room for compromise and would require Billboard to rework its entire notion of an album unit's worth. Instead, the two companies should work together to find a middle ground, because everyone wins when YouTube contributes to Billboard charts.

The only thing better than listening to a favorite playlist is listening to it with someone else. Or at least sharing it with others. Conversely, it's nice to get an idea of what your friends are listening to and like. This can help you discover new music, maybe even learn that you have very similar music tastes.

A relatively new feature with YouTube Music, launched in celebration of the streamer's 10^th birthday, is called Taste Match. It allows you to share a playlist with a friend, or even multiple friends, so they can contribute to it as well. The playlist automatically updates with content from everyone who joins so you'll get a surprise on your next run or commute home, hearing exciting new tunes just as your friends are. The collaborative playlist option is easy to set up in a few steps.

How to taste match your YouTube Music playlist with a friend

1. Open the YouTube Music app. Make sure you have the latest version downloaded.

2. Select the "+ New" button.

3. Select Taste Match.

4. Create a playlist or use one you have already created and send the invite link to the friend or multiple friends you want to add. Once they accept it, the playlist with both names will appear. Music won't populate for both (or all) of you for about 24 hours, so you may only see your own songs for the first day until your friend's songs begin to appear as well.

5. Once set up, the mixed playlists shows all members. You can also invite more people. The owner of the playlist can delete the playlist at any time.

6. From the friend's perspective, they will receive the invitation and can click Join then see the full playlist. While the owner can choose to delete the playlist, invitees can choose to leave one at any time.

Share your musical tastes

YouTube Music Taste Match is a lovely feature to help expand your musical horizons and share your musical tastes with others. It brings friends and family members together. You can tune into a playlist and know that it's the very same one that your loved ones are listening to as well. Get excited when you come across a wonderful new song and can add it for everyone to enjoy. YouTube Music is one of the best music streaming services, and this feature is a lovely addition to its existing offering.

For music lovers, December really is the most wonderful time of the year — it's when we get to see our end-of-year stats from our favorite music streaming services. Whether you listen to music only a few hours a week or all day and night, you're still logging significant hours on your favorite streaming music service.

As great as these services are at surfacing new artists for us to discover, it's also fun to revisit our old favorites at the end of each year. This year, the top end-of-year roundups include some exciting new elements you won't want to miss, like Spotify's "listening age" and "listening archive" features. Here's how to find those year-in-review playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.

How to find your Spotify Wrapped 2025 playlist

Spotify's Wrapped 2025 experience is now available in the app and on the Spotify Wrapped webpage. This year, the Wrapped 2025 experience includes a variety of statistics based on your listening history, with plenty of ways to share and revisit your year in music.

There's also an outside-of-the-box feature: your "listening age," which computes your age based on your music taste. It compares your Wrapped 2025 data to others in your age group based on the release dates of the songs you enjoyed the most. New for 2025 is also a "Spotify Club" feature that connects users with others who have similar music tastes. Here's how to access your Wrapped 2025 experience:

1. Open the Spotify app.

2. From the tags at the top of the page, swipe right to left and tap Wrapped.

3. Tap the Let's go button.

4. From the main Wrapped landing page, you'll also have options for Your Stories, Your Feed, and more.

There are also Wrapped 2025 cards for audiobooks and podcasts. Some users will get video messages from authors of their favorite audiobook, including Dan Brown, James Patterson, Abby Jimenez, and more.

The big AI-powered feature for 2025 is "Listening Archive." It uses AI to comb through Spotify users' listening history to find their most memorable or significant streaming days in 2025. You might see days like "the biggest listening day" or the "most nostalgic day." All of these features and more are available in the Spotify app for Premium subscribers.

How to find your YouTube Music 2025 Recap playlist

1. Open the YouTube Music app.

2. Tap the 2025 Recap banner that appears on the Home tab. It may also appear on your Speed dial on the YTM home tab.

3. Tap the Get your Recap button for your stats, or scroll down to view your 2025 Recap playlist.

If, for some reason, the banner for your YouTube Music Recap doesn't appear on your Home tab, there's another way you can access your 2025 Recap, as well as past seasonal Recaps.

1. Open the YouTube Music app.

2. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.

3. Tap Your Recap.

From here, you'll likely be able to see your 2025 recap. If you see "Nothing to hear here," then the 2025 Recap is not yet available for your account.

Even if you don't have a 2025 Recap for your own profile, this section will also show various YouTube Music Playlists comprised of top songs from the past year. You can scroll from left to right to view the different playlists, with the hopes of discovering something that you have not listened to yet.

How to find your Apple Music Replay 2025 playlist

Apple changed things up with Replay this year. You can now view your Replay 2025 stats at any time on a month-to-month basis on the Apple Music Replay website. And, the full year-in-review experience is now available for 2025. Here's how you can find it in the Apple Music app using the steps below.

1. Open the Apple Music app.

2. Tap on the Home tab.

3. At the top of the page, tap Replay — Your music story is here.

4. Tap the Play your highlight reel button.

Sign up for streaming

If you haven't seen these year-end playlists in your favorite music app, be patient. They are slowly rolling out in Spotify and YouTube Music, as well as in Apple Music, but not everyone has them yet. Try going into the Google Play app and seeing if there are any updates for your apps. We expect more streaming music services to be updating their apps and rolling out these playlists through the end of the year.

In the event that you don't already subscribe to one of these popular streaming music services, what are you waiting for? Many offer free trial periods of one to three months, and some offer additional discounts and family plans too!

What you need to know

• YouTube Music's 2025 Recap introduces an AI chatbot you can actually converse with about your listening habits.
• The recap itself has a fresh, narrative-driven design with month-by-month trends to show how your music taste evolved.
• The AI chat generates share-ready graphics from its responses.

For years, we’ve relied on streaming apps to deliver a tidy, year-end package of our listening habits. But if all that static data felt a bit too passive, YouTube Music is flipping the script.

The 2025 Recap has started rolling out with a fresh design, smarter stats, and a brand-new AI chat tool that talks to you about your listening habits, as spotted by 9to5Google. For an app known for its almost predictable Recap experience, this year’s update feels like Google finally deciding to have fun.

Google swapped out the usual flurry of cards for a more narrative-style highlight reel, complete with cleaner transitions and more visual context around your top songs, moods, and artists. You still get the essentials, such as your most-played tracks, your listening benchmarks, and the guilty-pleasure loops you probably forgot about.

YouTube Music also generates your Recap with month-by-month listening trends. You can also see how your tastes shifted throughout 2025, which songs ruled your commute, and when exactly you fell into that one-artist rabbit hole.

Interactive stats

The main new feature is the AI chat experience. Google created an interactive recap assistant using the same technology as Gemini. You can ask questions like “Did I listen to more K-pop this year?” or “Which artist spiked in October?” Instead of scrolling through cards, you talk to your stats and get quick answers.

You also get share-ready AI-generated graphics from the chatbot's responses, which is Google’s way of making Recap a little more Instagram-friendly. The AI chat feature is available on Android and iOS, but full functionality seems to be rolling out in stages.

With the AI chat assistant now baked in, it wouldn’t be surprising to see YouTube Music lean even harder into personalized recommendations powered by your listening history. And if you’ve been wondering whether Google planned to let Spotify have all the fun again this year, well… this is your answer.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music has been spotted testing a long-requested “Find in playlist” feature, letting users search inside massive playlists.
• The feature was spotted on iOS version 8.45.3 in India, but availability is said to be extremely limited.
• Some features, such as searching inside saved radio playlists, may still be missing at this stage.

YouTube Music users have long been frustrated by the lack of an option to search within a playlist, but the platform looks to be introducing a feature that finally fixes that shortcoming.

As per a user post on Reddit, and first reported by Android Authority, version 8.45.3 of YouTube Music on iOS includes a new "Find in playlist" option within the overflow menu. The user claims to be located in India.

Essentially, you’ll be able to open a playlist, tap the three-dot menu, and then type to locate songs inside large playlists using the new option. Until now, if you had hundreds of tracks in a playlist, you’d just have to scroll or hope you remembered roughly where the song was. This update addresses that pain point.

Android left out (for now)

However — and this is a big caveat— it’s not yet widely available, according to comments on the Reddit post. Android users in particular seem left out for now. It is, therefore, safe to assume that this is part of an A/B test.

For power users who maintain big playlists, this is a big usability win. The update moves YouTube Music closer to feature parity with the leading music streaming apps like Spotify by tackling a long-standing complaint. On Spotify, you can swipe down on any playlist screen to reveal the "Find in playlist" search bar at the top.

The absence of the same feature on YouTube Music until now had been a frequent gripe, so it's nice to see Google finally paying attention to user feedback — this kind of quality-of-life improvement matters.

The rollout appears to be extremely limited. Even among those who have the same app version (8.45.3), many still don’t see the feature. It seems sneakily enabled for selected accounts, which means you could update and still not get it yet.

Some functionality may still be missing: for example, the reports say radios saved in the Library may not support the search feature yet.

While the search feature is not fully out yet, it’s a meaningful step forward nonetheless. For now, you might have to sit tight and wait for your account to get the option. When it finally hits your region and your device, your playlist-browsing life will feel a little smoother.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music paid out a record $8 billion to the music industry in a 12-month period.
• It represents major growth for the platform, as it paid out $6 billion and $4 billion in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
• YouTube Music still lags behind Spotify in terms of overall payouts, but its per-stream payouts are supposedly higher.

YouTube Music is a relatively young music streaming service compared to industry stalwarts like Spotify, but it's growing fast. The streaming service debuted in 2015 along YouTube Premium, and a decade later, it has over 125 million paid subscribers as of March 2025. The large subscriber count and user base allows YouTube Music to inject more cash into the music industry, and it hit a big milestone in 2025.

YouTube paid out more than $8 billion to the music industry in the year between July 2024 and June 2025, it said in a blog post. The brand says this major payout reaffirms its "commitment to the music industry." It's the most YouTube Music has ever paid out to artists and the music industry at large in a 12-month period, and shows that payouts are rising with subscriber counts.

"Today's $8 billion payout is a testament to the fact that the twin engine of ads and subscriptions is firing on all cylinders," said Lyor Cohen, who is YouTube's global head of music, in the blog post. "This number is not an endpoint; it represents meaningful, sustained progress in our journey to build a long-term home for every artist, songwriter, and publisher on the global stage."

The company attributes the larger payouts to what it calls a "twin-engine revenue model." That includes subscriber revenue from the over 125 million users that pay for either YouTube Music or YouTube Premium. It also includes logged-in viewers who watch music videos on YouTube and see ads — YouTube says there are 2 billion of them each month.

Between revenue sharing from subscribers and ad-supported users, YouTube Music was able to pay out the $8 billion figure to the music industry.

How YouTube Music's payout compares to itself — and the competition

YouTube Music's payouts are rising with its subscriber count. It paid out $4 billion to the music industry in 2021, $6 billion in 2022, and now $8 billion in 2025 (via TechCrunch). Spotify, the industry leader and YouTube Music's biggest competitor, paid $10 billion to the music industry in 2024.

While YouTube Music isn't quite on Spotify's level yet, it's inching closer. Despite having far fewer subscribers, YouTube Music's industry payout is impressive because it pays more on a per-stream basis than Spotify, according to Duetti.

What you need to know

• A real-time lyrics translation feature for YouTube Music is in a limited test, available only to a small group of Premium subscribers.
• The feature works seamlessly inside the app, automatically translating lyrics into your device's language with a single tap.
• It leverages Google's own machine translation tech, so while it's powerful, the quality may vary and miss some poetic nuance.

YouTube Music is quietly testing something that could make international hits a lot more accessible.

As reported by Android Authority, based on discovery by YouTube Music user Diego on Telegram, real-time lyrics translation is currently being rolled out to a small batch of Premium subscribers, giving them a new “Translate” button right inside the lyrics interface.

Once tapped, translated lyrics appear directly under the original lines, letting users follow along without switching apps or copying text into Google Translate.

As per the report, the translation works automatically based on your system or app language settings. That means if your phone’s set to English, lyrics from a Spanish or Korean track will be translated into English by default.

Limited control for now

There’s no manual language picker yet, so if you want a different translation language, you’d need to change your device or app language entirely. It’s a small limitation, but one that makes sense for early testing.

For now, only select Premium users seem to have access to the feature, and Google hasn’t confirmed when (or if) it will reach everyone. This test appears to be part of a broader update focused on enhancing the lyrics experience, following YouTube Music’s previous rollout of real-time synced lyrics and new visual layouts.

YouTube Music’s translation system seems to use Google’s own machine translation tools, so quality may vary depending on the song and language. Like any automated translator, it might miss subtle nuances, idioms, or poetic wordplay, but it still offers a massive step forward for people exploring music beyond their native tongue.

This experiment also fits neatly into Google’s growing focus on AI-driven translation across its platforms. YouTube itself recently expanded its auto-dubbing and multi-language audio tools for creators, letting videos automatically generate dubbed versions in different languages.

Right now, there’s no timeline for a global rollout, and Google hasn’t shared details about supported languages or regions.

I've used YouTube Music as my primary streaming app for some time, and it has mostly managed to avoid the onslaught of AI features that have come to other apps. However, thanks to YouTube Labs, it's now the testbed for a new AI feature that brings AI hosts to the music listening experience.

It's not unlike Spotify's AI DJ, which features an AI-generated host that talks between songs to provide commentary or context for upcoming tracks. Except for YouTube Music, there are two AI hosts that converse with each other as part of a "radio show" called Beyond the Beat.

To some, this might sound annoying; after all, who would want some AI-generated voices interrupting their listening experience? However, I've found that I don't actually hate this new feature, and I hope it sticks around, with some changes.

Diving into my favorite songs

Beyond the Beat sneaks its way into your listening experience every few songs, with the two AI-generated hosts, Mo and Flow, chatting about the song that just played and/or the upcoming song. The first time you enable the feature, they'll even introduce themselves after the first listen to let you know that they are, in fact, AI, and that they can get some things wrong.

However, despite being AI, they actually have surprisingly great chemistry and ooze personality. The conversations flow pretty seamlessly between these two, and if you didn't know they were AI, you might think they were actual radio hosts.

Like Spotify's AI DJ, they'll only interject every so often, and when they do, it'll last for less than a minute, usually around 40 seconds. Usually, the conversations provide context to a song, such as backstory or trivia, and I actually find much of the commentary pretty fascinating.

The first time "Beyond the Beat" came on, the hosts discussed how the song "Yours" by Mariah Carey was initially intended as a duet with Justin Timberlake, but contractual complications resulted in only a solo version being released. That's something I had heard before, but it was surprising to hear it from the hosts.

At one point, they discussed Doja Cat's "Jealous Type" being performed at the VMAs and how it was Kenny G's first time performing at the awards show. It reminded me of how shocked I was to see him opening for her performance, so this was a great context to add to what I thought was a fantastic moment.

They also pointed out how Kelly Rowland's "Commander" has some deliberate grammatical errors, and provided the history behind the name of the track "Lionheart (Fearless)" by Joel Corry and Tom Grennan. I was also surprised to learn how people apparently thought that "Rocketeers" by Far East Movement was copying a track from Justin Bieber (despite it being produced first).

I also got a chuckle when the hosts were discussing how Craig David's "Ain't Giving Up" was instrumental in his big comeback, and at one point, Flow commented how she remembers him "from way back."

Of course, many of these facts are things you could learn with a quick Google Search, but I'm often not that curious enough about what I'm listening to, at least enough that would warrant a search. That's probably a big reason why I appreciate the short interruptions, as I feel like it adds, not detracts, from my listening experience.

It's not for everyone

Of course, I understand this isn't for everyone. If you're listening to music, sometimes you just want to get lost in the tunes without being interrupted by AI-generated music trivia.

Even a quick search on Reddit will reveal people complaining about the feature, with some questioning why anyone would want such a feature, and others expressing frustration about the inability to permanently mute it. One compares it to Spotify's AI DJ and notes that it doesn't significantly enhance the listening experience on the popular streaming app.

Comment from r/technology

Fortunately, YouTube Music knows my tastes pretty well, and the hosts are only available when you start a radio station or an auto-generated mix, so the vibe of the songs melds pretty well in my experience.

It should be noted that while you can't permanently mute the hosts, you can snooze the feature for one hour or a day. That said, it's only a test at this stage, so it's not yet widely available. US-based subscribers will have to consciously sign up for and enable the experiment for it to appear. As a result, most users won't have to worry about an annoying AI-generated radio show ruining their music experience.

With any luck, any kinks will be ironed out before a potential wide release, and the AI hosts will be an opt-in feature rather than an opt-out. It would also be great to see how Google can expand on it, similar to how Spotify has expanded the feature to support voice requests for songs (as opposed to just choosing a song for you).

How to get started

If you wanna give this a try, enabling YouTube Music's AI hosts is pretty simple. However, it is currently only available to US-based YouTube Music/Premium subscribers, and it's unclear if or when it will be rolled out to more countries.

Companies continue finding ways to integrate AI into their products, and YouTube Music is the latest to receive the AI treatment. Thanks to YouTube Labs, users can try out new features before Google makes them more widely available to the general public, and the first is a new AI-powered music DJ/host.

It's called "Beyond the Beat," and it functions as a radio show featuring two AI hosts who converse with each other before and after songs. After every few songs, the hosts will provide insight into a track that just played or an upcoming song, offering backstories, trivia, history, and more. The offering is not too unlike Spotify's AI DJ.

Here's how you can test YouTube Music's new AI hosts and provide feedback on the experience before it rolls out more widely.

How to sign up for YouTube Labs

Before you can try the new AI host, you need to be subscribed to YouTube Music or YouTube Premium. If you're already subscribed, you can sign up by using the link: www.youtube.com/new, or by following the steps below on your smartphone:

1. Open the YouTube app and tap your profile icon in the bottom right corner.

2. Tap the settings icon in the top right corner.

3. Select "Try experimental new features."

4. Scroll down and tap the Join now button under YouTube Labs.

How to use (and snooze) YouTube Music's AI hosts

Once you've joined the experiment, you don't have to do anything else to enable the AI music hosts. Navigate to YouTube Music to begin listening to a radio or auto-generated mix, and the hosts will chime in periodically between tracks.

You can also pause the hosts if you want to listen to music uninterrupted. You will notice a new button next to the like and dislike options. This button includes a sparkle icon and lets you snooze the AI hosts, providing two options:

• Snooze for 1 hour
• Snooze for a day

Note that you cannot turn off Beyond the Beat. You can only snooze the experience or leave the experiment by returning to the YouTube Labs page in the previous section.

Still a work in progress

As we know by now, AI isn't perfect, and it's bound to make an error every now and then. Google makes note of this in the snooze menu, stating that "AI commentary can make mistakes."

Fortunately, Google encourages testers to provide feedback, which may help shape the future of the feature if/when it rolls out more widely. In order to do so, navigate back to the YouTube Labs page in the first section. Here, you'll find a Feedback button, which will take you to a form you can fill out regarding your experience.

Note that not everyone can partake in the experiment. According to Google, a "limited number of US-based participants can test early prototypes and experiments and influence the future of YouTube."

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is reworking its Now Playing screen, shifting around several elements to bring a "dual-pane" look.
• The bottom of this view now features a swipeable tab, which lets users see their "up next" songs in a brief, four song tab or a full, extensive list.
• The Lyrics and Related options have fallen into its repositioned bar of options, alongside the like, dislike, and other buttons.
• In August, YouTube Music celebrated 10 years of fandom and teased two major updates headed to users: "taste match playlists" and live performance alerts.

YouTube Music is freshening up its "Now Playing" screen just as the week concludes, doing away with the older vibes.

The latest YouTube Music "Now Playing" screen update was spotted rolling out today (Sep 12) by 9to5Google. The updated screen now offers a swipeable split between your basic music information and your "up next" screen. Starting with the former, the Now Playing screen still displays the album cover in the center with your media controls right under that.

However, the toggles to switch between audio (the song) and its video are no longer present above the album cover. YouTube Music has also brought its row of elements (like, dislike, comments, add to playlist) down under the media controls. The app removed Lyrics from the bottom, placing them within this repositioned row of options.

At the very bottom, users will notice a classic floating bar that mirrors what you'd see when using gestures on Android. Pulling up (swiping up) will display the songs YouTube Music plans to play next. The publication notes that users can pull this up part way, which will show four brief songs, or pull it up all the way to see a more extensive list.

When fully open, this full list makes the Now Playing screen extremely compact, minimizing the cover at the top left with the title, artist, casting icon, and the three-dot menu beside it. This minimized state will also occur when opening your Lyrics and Related options, too.

YouTube Music brings people together

The publication reports that this update is slowly rolling out for mobile users (Android, iOS) today (Sep 12). It might take some time before it arrives, but it also seems that a download isn't necessary. So, keep your eyes peeled for when it appears on your device.

YouTube Music's just been cruising along as of late, but it did celebrate 10 years of Fandom in late August. The celebration was all about how YouTube Music has continued to bring listeners and their favorite artists together on one platform. Not only was it a time to party, but it was also a time for the platform to highlight an update for users. Soon, YouTube Music listeners will get the option to create "taste match playlists."

These playlists will combine the musical tastes of you and another person to create a unique list of songs that represents you both. Moreover, YouTube Music states it's preparing to introduce live performance and upcoming show alerts for artists. These alerts are said to appear when you're engaging in their content on the platform.

What you need to know

• YouTube will pause Premium Family accounts shared outside the same household.
• Affected users get 14 days to confirm eligibility before losing Premium benefits.
• The crackdown follows Netflix's 2023 policy and aims to boost new plan sign-ups.

YouTube has long allowed users to share the Premium subscription with up to five members through the Premium Family plan. The plan, which costs about $23 per month, has been an easy way to split the subscription with others. However, it now looks like YouTube will soon crack down on users sharing accounts outside their household.

It seems YouTube has started notifying users who are part of a Family plan but not physically located in the same household as the family manager. The company has reportedly started sending emails saying their "YouTube Premium family membership will be paused" (via Android Police).

In the email, YouTube says Family plan members must be "in the same household as the family manager." If not, the membership will be "paused in 14 days." The email adds that affected users will "remain in your family group" and still watch YouTube with ads, but will "no longer have YouTube Premium benefits."

Notably, YouTube will allow users who receive this email to "confirm eligibility and maintain access" using a support form.

Not many users are affected just yet

If this sounds familiar, it's exactly what Netflix implemented in 2023, requiring all account users to be physically associated with the same household, and now YouTube seems to be following suit.

For what it's worth, YouTube has required family members to be in the same household since 2023, but until now, there were no consequences for ignoring it. Now, it looks like the company is cracking down on YouTube Premium sharing between users in different locations more seriously.

If you're doing the same thing, the good news is the crackdown doesn't seem widespread yet, with only a few people on X/Twitter and Reddit reporting such emails.

It's also worth noting these reports are surfacing only months after YouTube introduced YouTube Premium Lite and started testing a two-person Premium plan, so this could be a way for the company to push more sign-ups for different tiers.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music’s update puts Search and Explore under one roof, so you can browse recommendations and hunt for songs without switching tabs.
• The old compass Explore icon is now a magnifying glass, opening a page with a built-in search bar for smoother navigation.
• Double-tap the search bar, and the keyboard pops up instantly.

YouTube Music’s interface is getting a refresh, now dropping the search button onto the bottom bar for easier access.

This tweak follows a wider app design trend focused on ease of use. Placing key controls at the bottom makes one-handed navigation smoother. 9to5Google says it’s still rolling out, so not everyone has it yet.

YouTube Music used to tuck its search icon up top, which worked but wasn’t exactly user-friendly. On larger phones, reaching it meant awkward hand movements, making a simple task feel slightly annoying over time.

The screenshots show it could make browsing and discovering music a lot smoother.

Search and explore, now in one spot

With the new update, you don’t have to hit a separate top icon to search. The old compass Explore icon is swapped for a magnifying glass, and when you tap it, you’re on the Explore page with a search bar right up top, so you can browse and hunt for new tracks at the same time.

Before, Search and Explore were split, forcing you to switch between tabs to discover new music and find specific tracks. The separation made it less seamless to engage with both YouTube Music’s recommendations and your own searches.

YouTube Music also now lets you double-tap the search bar to bring up the keyboard right away. It’s a small change, but it makes finding songs way quicker without having to reach for the top of the screen.

The feature’s still limited to a few people, and Google hasn’t confirmed a wider rollout.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is celebrating 10 years of bringing listeners and artists together with a few updates.
• Soon, users will have a chance to create "taste match playlists" with their loved ones, which updates daily, taking into account the musical interests of everyone involved.
• The platform is also gaining live performance and upcoming show alerts for artists when watching their music videos or Shorts.

YouTube Music is looking to "celebrate fandom" this year, as the platform celebrates 10 years of bringing listeners and artists together.

In a blog post, YouTube Music states it's preparing to introduce three new updates for users to go along with this 10-year celebration. The first update gives us Spotify Blend vibes, as the platform states it will introduce "taste match playlists." The post states these new playlists will let users "connect over shared music tastes and discover new songs."

Updated daily, the taste match playlists will take into account the personal musical interests of everyone involved in the playlist's creation. Elsewhere, YouTube Music is trying to boost the sense of community by allowing users to comment on albums and playlists.

Live performances and upcoming shows will move more into the limelight on YouTube Music, thanks to its partnership with Bandsintown. The post states users will soon be able to find details on upcoming concerts during music videos, Shorts, or the Official Artist's channel on YouTube. Notifications are coming in to keep you even more connected with your favorite artist, so you'll never miss a merch drop or new music.

It's a celebration

As users await these two updates, YouTube Music states it's preparing one final fandom-focused feature to help listeners boost their favorite artists. Soon, users should find music video milestones, which will inform everyone of the major achievements an artist is nearing, such as closing in on 1 million views.

Earlier updates from YouTube Music include the lyric sharing ability users gained in June. The feature creates a card that you can share with others that has your favorite lyrics and other song information on it. Users on the free track and those subscribed have access to this. In other news, those "badges" YouTube Music mentioned this week were first introduced late last year.

Users can earn badges for "being a top listener of their favorite artist or having a creator heart your comment."

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is testing a “Daily Discover” feed that drops fresh tracks every day, each with a short note explaining why it’s there.
• Unlike Spotify’s scheduled playlists, this is a song-by-song recommendation system with instant context.
• The carousel’s larger design and standout album art make it hard to miss.

YouTube Music is said to be experimenting with a feature that serves up fresh daily picks for songs and artists tailored to how you jam, something you won't see on the leading music streaming apps.

Music streaming services thrive on helping listeners find fresh tracks. To that end, YouTube Music is reportedly working on a new tool called “Your daily discover” to sharpen its recommendations.

As spotted by Reddit user BarisberatWNR (via Android Authority), the feature appears as a carousel on YouTube Music’s home screen, complete with a “Play All” button that instantly builds a fresh playlist.

The feature shows up above the “Trending songs for you” section on YouTube Music’s homepage. Since it’s still in testing, its placement could change, and some users say it only appears on and off.

Bigger, bolder layout

This horizontal carousel breaks from YouTube Music’s usual mixes with an oversized layout and eye-catching album art. Each tile includes a brief tag—like “Because you liked” or “For fans of”—to show exactly why it’s being recommended.

Unlike Spotify’s fixed-schedule playlists such as Discover Weekly and Daylist, YouTube Music’s new feature adds context to every pick, telling you exactly why it’s there, which is something Spotify doesn’t currently do.

Instead of relying on playlists like Spotify, YouTube Music’s new feature serves up daily song picks, each with a short reason why it was chosen. It’s built to steer listeners toward fresh music that fits their tastes, and does it more quickly than Spotify’s approach.

Details on the Daily Discover carousel are still fuzzy, with no word yet on how many songs it shows or if there’s a cap. Right now, it’s only available to a small group of YouTube Music users, and Google hasn’t said when or if it’ll reach everyone.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is rolling out support for sharing lyrics today, after first testing the functionality in April 2025.
• It's available on the latest version of the YouTube Music app for iOS and Android.
• The feature creates a shareable card with selected lyrics and song information, and is available for both free and paid YouTube Music users.

YouTube Music is adding a helpful feature for sharing what you're listening to with others: lyric cards. The music streaming service initially began testing lyric sharing in April 2025, but the tool is now widely rolling out for YouTube Music users as of today, June 17 (via 9to5Google). It's available on version 8.24 of the YouTube Music app for iOS and Android.

With lyric sharing, YouTube Music users can create a shareable card with a few lines of lyrics from the song they're currently listening to. When available, the feature adds a new floating action button to the Lyrics tab of the Now Playing user-interface called Share. After tapping it, you can select which groupings of lyric lines you'd like to use to create the shareable card.

You can pick the background color of your lyric card, and continuing will create the finalized graphic. It'll show the song title, artist, album artwork, selected lyrics, and a subtle YouTube Music logo. It's essentially creating an image that can be saved to your device's camera roll or shared with other apps.

Since the feature simply shares an image of your lyric card, you'll need to manually add audio to lyrics shared on your social accounts. For instance, if you wanted to add YouTube Music lyrics to your Instagram story, you'll still need to select a track for your story as you normally would in order for music to play. Otherwise, it'll only take a few taps to create and share a YouTube Music lyrics card.

Lyric sharing is available for both free and paid YouTube Music accounts running the latest version of the mobile app (version 8.24 on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store).

The YouTube Music app was last updated yesterday, June 16, on both iOS and Android. However, this seems like a server-side change, so force stop your YouTube Music app if you aren't able to create lyric cards yet.

So, you’re using YouTube Music but you don’t want to redo that entire epic playlist or two (or a dozen) you already created in another service. It might be your party playlist for when friends and family members are over, a themed selection of tunes for the holiday season, summer vibing pop hits, or even your daily workout or running playlists. You can easily move playlists you’ve already created over to YouTube Music from services like Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services. From there, you can access them all in one place while enjoying all the benefits of YouTube Music.

How to transfer playlists to YouTube Music from Spotify

1. Sign in to your YouTube account.

2. Go to Settings.

3. Select to Privacy & Data.

4. Select Transfer playlists from other apps.

5. Select the desired service (in this case, Spotify).

6. Select Let’s Start.

7. Agree to the terms for allowing Spotify to connect to TuneMyMusic, which powers this feature.

8. Select your library or specific playlists you want to transfer. (Note: make sure to select the Gmail account associated with your YouTube Music Premium account so the playlist goes to the right place). Then select Transfer to YouTube Music.

9. Wait for the process to complete and voila! Your Spotify playlists are ready for listening right from YouTube Music.

How to transfer playlists to YouTube Music from Apple Music

1. You’ll likely already be signed into your Apple account on your device, but make sure that you have an active subscription to Apple Music as well.

2. Visit privacy.apple.com from a web browser on your device.

3. Select Request to transfer a copy of your data.

4. Under Choose what you’d like to export, select Apple Music playlists to YouTube Music and hit Next.

5. You’ll see the number of playlists to be transferred from Apple Music. Select Continue.

6. Sign in to your Google account or if you’re already signed in, choose the account you want to use (if you have more than one).

7. Sign in to Apple Data and Privacy to confirm that you agree to share your name, e-mail address, and profile picture (if you aren’t already signed in or have previously confirmed this connection) then grant Apple Data and Privacy access to your Google Account and select Continue.

8. Select Confirm the Export.

9. You’ll receive confirmation that your playlists will be exported, then wait for the process to complete. It could take up to 24 hours for the request to be verified (more than likely, however, it will be done within minutes). You will receive a security e-mail confirming the request, and another from Apple advising once it’s complete. At any time, you can visit the Privacy page to check on the status or cancel the transfer if desired.

10. Once complete, you’ll see confirmation on the Privacy website. From there, go to YouTube Music and you’ll see your Apple Music playlists there for enjoying.

What else to note about transferring playlists to YouTube Music

I’ll bet you didn’t even know this feature existed. Now that you do, you can take full advantage of it. But there are a few things to note as well.

You won't lose your playlist

You don’t need to worry that transferring a playlist from one service to YouTube Music will remove it from that host service. The playlist will still exist there. (Though you will lose access everywhere it exists if you no longer subscribe to a paid service).

Changes don't sync

Note that if you make changes to the version of the playlist in YouTube Music, these modifications won’t sync with the other one. So, if you add or remove a song or two, for example, you’ll have to go back to Spotify, Apple Music, or your other service as well to mirror that change manually. If you want to get around that, always update the playlist in the main service then transfer it over again whenever you’ve made big changes so the two playlists are in sync.

Easily transfer an entire Apple Music library

A useful tip: if transferring from Apple Music, you can use the handy Add Entire playlist to library shortcut first to instantly create a playlist with all your songs. From there, you can then transfer your entire library to YouTube Music in one fell swoop as a new, massive “playlist”.

Some songs might not match

If there are songs that aren’t available on YouTube Music within the playlists you try to transfer, you won’t be able to transfer them. You should receive a notification, however, advising that the song could not be matched. Playlists with podcasts are not supported and cannot be imported to, or exported from, YouTube Music.

The process can take long for larger playlists

Since the process can anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on how many playlists you want to transfer and how many songs, plan to do this when you’re at home and can keep your device plugged in and fully charged.

Transfer away!

The feature is one of the reasons YouTube Music is among the best streaming music apps. It’s a great way to keep all your favorite playlists from different services in one place, accessing them when and how you want. You can integrate YouTube Music into your existing set-up without having to go through the gruelling task of recreating playlists you already worked so hard to build.

YouTube Music is a great source for songs and playlists, and with a YouTube Premium subscription, you get even more. One of the latest features to be included with YouTube Premium is the ability to create AI-generated radio stations. Using the Ask Music feature, you can provide a simple prompt to create a custom station based on your mood, interests, genre, or even a specific event, like a themed party or gathering. Once you get started, you can continue the conversation to further refine the playlist so it’s absolutely perfect.

How to create AI-generated radio stations on YouTube Music

1. Open the YouTube Music app.

2. On the Home screen, scroll down to the Ask for music section and enter your text command in the “Ask way you like” field or tap the microphone and speak what you want. Enter a prompt like “smooth jazz for a relaxing date night” or “upbeat tunes for a cardio workout.” In this example, we chose “UK Punjabi songs.”

3. The station should automatically start playing. Otherwise, you can tap the “Adjust or ask again” field or the microphone to add refinements to the radio. There are also suggestion bubbles you can choose from to get more of what you want, like, in this example, “More traditional Punjabi music,” “Similar artists from India,” or "latest Bollywood tracks."

4. Once you’re happy with the playlist, you can Shuffle play, Save to playlist, Delete radio, or Pin to Speed dial.

How do AI-generated radio stations work?

You might be wondering how this magic happens. The feature uses the power of generative AI. It can take into account the types of music and artists you traditionally love to play and help you discover new music. It can also find music based on your specific command, like tunes of a specific genre, songs or artists from a specific country, or music with a tempo that fits an overall vibe.

Your prompts will help it further refine until you get exactly what you want. Once set up, your custom playlist can last the entire duration of a summer barbecue with friends, plus the afterparty later. Everyone will wonder where you found this epic station or how long it took you to create it (Shhh, no one needs to know!).

Note that, as mentioned, using this feature requires a subscription to YouTube Premium, which is $14 per month. That subscription unlocks features in other apps, too, including YouTube, YouTube Kids, YouTube Gaming, and YouTube VR. There’s also the standalone YouTube Music Premium option, which is $11 per month after a one-month trial, and you can cancel at any time. It will give you access to more than 100 million songs, free from ads.

The ability to create AI-generated radio stations that use your interests or specific needs takes the guesswork out of playlist creation. This feature contributes to YouTube Music's being named among the best music streaming services. With features like this, it’s certainly also one of the smartest.

What you need to know

• YouTube turned 20 recently, and it is bringing new features and some tweaks to its design on its TV app.
• YouTube TV members can experiment with building their own multiview, and this can be done with non-sports content as well.
• It is expanding its "voice reply" to comments feature to more creators across the board.
• The redesign of the YouTube app will also include a new look for its video player.

YouTube turned 20 this week and celebrating its two decade milestone, the streaming platform shared some fun facts about its inception along with latest features that are being testing and coming to users soon.

What began as a 19-second video back in 2005 has now evolved into a full-blown streaming giant, with over 20 million video uploads each day. YouTube has also become a hub for people to have conversations and comment, and react to all sorts of videos, whether they like it or not. According to the streaming platform, "in 2024, YouTube users averaged over 100 million comments on videos daily. And we discovered that last year, creators received comments from an average of 10 million viewers every day.”

That said, YouTube seems to be giving back to its avid users as well. In its blog post, YouTube said that in a few weeks, YouTube TV users can test out multiviews on their account. They can build their personalized multi-view window that showcases non-sports channels as well. Considering that YouTube is testing this feature out, YouTube says that it is starting "with a small group of popular channels and expanding in the coming months."

For its Premium users, the streaming platform is immediately rolling out 4x playback speed on mobile devices. This was being tested out in February and has now finally landed. More creators will have the ability to voice-respond to comments on their videos.

Furthermore, users can start creating their personalized radio station with the AI-powered tool called "Ask Music". You can speak or ask YouTube to create a playlist for you with "upbeat songs for a morning run," "calm jazz for studying," "80s-inspired indie," or even something more specific to your mood. Ask Music is available on iOS and Android for all YouTube Premium and YouTube Music users.

Lastly, the YouTube TV app is getting a full redesign this summer, the blog post added."Easier navigation, playback, quality tweaks, plus streamlined access to comments, channel info, and subscribing are heading to your screens," YouTube stated.

The company shared a quick glimpse of what the new UI would look like, featuring video from @LoFiGirl. The controls on the new UI are more spread out when compared to the current version. The channel, description, and subscribe buttons are on the left, the play/pause and next controls are in the center, making it more accessible and prominent. While the other controls, like settings and the like/dislike toggles, remain on the left of the screen, as seen above.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is testing a feature to share song lyrics on social media, similar to Spotify.
• Users can select specific lyrics, choose a color palette, and share them as Instagram Stories or download them as images.
• The feature appears to be a part of the streaming platform's efforts to improve user engagement and compete with other music services.

YouTube Music is quite popular amongst music streaming services, and it is now gaining yet another popular feature from its rival Spotif,y and is currently being tested on the platform.

It is the ability to share lyrics to your favorite ones through social channels like Instagram. A Reddit user (via AssembleDebug) has recently spotted the feature and it works pretty similar to what Spotify has been offering for quite a while now.

YouTube Music already offers lyrics for songs that can be accessed from the Now Playing section of the music streaming app. As per the video shared by the Reddit user, once the upcoming feature goes live, users will be able to select specific lines from the lyrics.

Users can then find a new Next button followed by the new Share button after the preferred lyrics selection, and hitting it would open a share sheet with social icons like Instagram. However, they can be shared as Instagram Stories, per the video, and more social handles are expected to be added once the official rollout of the feature begins.

Looks like you can now share lyrics! from r/YoutubeMusic

YouTube Music users are already familiar with sharing their favourite tracks to Instagram, Instagram Stories, and even Snapchat. The new lyrics sharing feature is also identical to the prior and additionally users also get to choose colour palette as well so that selected lyrics appear more fancy in social handles. Alternatively, there is also an option to download as an image.

It is encouraging to see YouTube Music catching up to the competition in bringing new features, and it should likely become more engaging. And this should make users who shuffle between apps and have such a feature, could add another reason for such people to go back to YouTube Music from services like Spotify.

Early this year, YouTube Music has also started testing giving artist pages a makeover and the popular audio/video switch button rearrangement has also seen in the works. All these suggested features could be on the verge of rolling out later this year.

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Update April 18, 2025: After publishing this article, Google representatives reached out to me for further troubleshooting. They found that "the issue was caused by having simultaneous subscriptions on the YouTube side," a problem the company is aware of. Google says that Gemini and Google One trails do not include YouTube Premium at all, so the trial I accepted for Gemini Advanced is separate from the problem I had on YouTube. The original article is as follows:

For the last six months, my YouTube Music account has been broken. If my wife and I ever wanted to listen to music at the same time, I'd either have to take my phone offline completely, or one of us just wouldn't listen to music at all. This isn't the first time it has happened either, but if I have anything to say about it, it'll be the last.

It all started back in November when I somehow accepted a free trial to one of the Google Gemini advanced programs. This particular one included a YouTube Premium subscription as part of its model, which Google believes will help incentivize users to pay a little extra to get a lot of value. The problem is that I already had a YouTube Premium family subscription.

Worse yet, even some YouTube videos would cause my account to error out like this, making it beyond irritating to try to play the music I was paying for. Google was powerless to fix it because of one reason or another, ensuring my winter was filled with Silent Nights in more than one way until that blasted trial ended six months later.

Falling on deaf ears

At first, it took me a while to figure out what happened. Out of nowhere, I started getting these "playback paused because your account is being used in another location" errors in YouTube Music. That can't be possible, I thought; I have a family plan and nowhere near the maximum number of people on it!

Simultaneously, I also noticed a new "upgrade" button in the bottom right corner of my YouTube Music app. I assumed maybe it was a ploy by Google to get me to subscribe to one of its more expensive Google One plans or something similar, but it turns out this button appeared because my account had been flagged as a trial account.

Of course, this made no sense. I already had a family premium account, as evidenced by the photo above, yet a second trial was stacked on top and marked as the primary subscription for the account. So I did what any good paying customer would do: I asked for the manager.

YouTube Music support ran me through some steps I was hopeful would work. I was directed to cancel my paid Google One plan and let the trial take precedence, offloading the subscription cost from my budget for a while. That sounded great, but it didn't work.

Next, they had me disable family sharing on my Google One account to see if that would trigger a system-side permissions dialog or something similar, assuming that the problem was first caused by the trial not including family plan permissions. No dice. Even re-enabling family sharing didn't fix it.

At this point, support identified the stacked trial account as the underlying problem but said there's nothing they could do about it. Apparently, Google support doesn't have the power to alter subscriptions or cancel trials; only the user can.

But the biggest problem, of course, is that there's no way to cancel a trial once it has begun. Again, YouTube support confirmed this awful design, and my press contacts later confirmed it. The only thing I could do was wait until April 11, and I had 5 months to go by the time this was fully figured out.

So here I am on the other side of April 11, confirming that this was, in fact, the issue the entire time. Over the last three days, my wife and I have purposefully tested out all sorts of ways to play back music on multiple devices, and we never received a playback error. Everything worked as it should! Huzzah!

The moral of the story is this: watch out when you accept a free trial. Sometimes, a free trial can make you aware of some amazing value you didn't know existed, or even get you linked up with a service you can't wait to pay for. Other times, it might just ruin your day and keep it ruined for months. While I probably thought a trial would save me some money for a few months, it ended up being more of a headache than it was worth.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music's "Ask Music" feature is gaining support for further refinements beyond an initial prompt.
• That means you can create an initial personalized radio station, and update it further with more specific requests.
• YouTube Music is also adding support for AI-generated My Mix titles and new cover art styles.

YouTube Music is gaining a few new features on Android that make customizing your personalized radio stations and playlist cover art easier. "Ask Music," a feature that lets users create custom stations based on their mood using simple prompts, can now be further refined after the first try. It's rolling out this week for YouTube Premium subscribers in supported regions.

The process for creating Ask Music starts with a prompt that describes their mood, like the examples YouTube provides of "upbeat workout tracks" or "relaxing jazz." From there, you'll get a custom radio station that helps with discovery of the streaming service's 100-million-track catalog.

What's new with YouTube Music's latest update is the ability to further refine Ask Music radio stations after the initial prompt. Users can tweak their personalized radio stations by either typing or speaking additional prompts. The app will show chips with suggestion prompts to help YouTube Music users come up with ideas, such as "more upbeat," "just jazz songs" or "only female vocals."

Right now, YouTube says that Ask Music is only available for YouTube Music Premium subscribers in the following supported regions: U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It'll work on both the Android and iOS mobile apps, too.

YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S. will get one more exclusive feature, and that's AI-generated titles for My Mix playlist. Based on the songs included in the My Mix playlist, YouTube Music's AI will come up with a title that represents the mood and feel of the playlist.

Finally, YouTube Music is adding new support for custom cover art for playlists. There are two new AI-generated cover art themes — "Workout" and "Instruments" — that can be used to create unique artwork. Additionally, custom playlist thumbnails, which were first available on the web, are now supported on the Android app. They'll be launching on iOS in the coming months, per the company.

These updates are rolling out this week on the YouTube Music app for Android.

What you need to know

• YouTube surpassed one billion monthly active podcast viewers, a key threshold for the platform.
• Google is going all-in on YouTube and YouTube Music for podcasts after shutting down Google Podcasts last year.
• According to an independent report, YouTube is also now the most frequently used podcast client in the U.S.

Nearly a year after Google made the surprising decision to shutter Google Podcasts, it appears that YouTube has successfully emerged as its replacement. The company recently shared its "big bets" for YouTube in 2025, and one of them seems to be paying off early. In a blog post today, Feb. 26, YouTube shared that it eclipsed one billion monthly podcast viewers — an important achievement for the platform.

"This milestone underscores how YouTube has come to play an essential role in podcasting for creators and audiences, and how our investments to improve the podcast experience on YouTube are paying off," writes Tim Katz, the VP of partnerships and podcasts at YouTube. "Podcasts with video are more than just a trend, they meet audiences where they are: on YouTube."

The monthly active viewer threshold is just part of the reason YouTube is taking a victory lap for its podcast delivery efforts. The platform claims that it is "the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts in the U.S. and often the first place people go when looking for a new podcast," citing an Edison Research report from October 2024. The report found that YouTube is more popular among podcast listeners than both Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In terms of market share, Edison reports that YouTube Music is the most popular podcast delivery service among weekly podcast listeners ages 13 and up. It has 31% of the market, compared to 27% for Spotify and 15% for Apple Podcasts. Edison's metrics measure "listening, not downloads, across all networks, shows, and platforms," per the report.

Last year, YouTube says viewers consumed over 400 million hours of podcasts on its platforms — both audio and video podcasts. The move comes as Google embraces YouTube and YouTube Music for podcast delivery. It's continuing to grow YouTube's podcast functionality. At the end of last year, the company added shareable links that let listeners start shared podcasts at a specific timestamp.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is likely to see some redesign for its Now Playing screen.
• The music streaming service could shift the popular audio/video switcher from top to bottom right below the playback controls.
• The redesign could include the rearrangement of playback controls and other "like," "comments, " and "save" buttons.

YouTube Music has many convenient features. The music streaming service blends seamlessly with its sibling YouTube with a tap on the single interchangeable button right above the album cover on the Now Playing screen. New evidence, however, indicates that the feature is likely shifting.

As spotted by 9to5Google, YouTube Music might soon replace the audio/video switcher with a new native button right above the “Up next”, “Lyrics”, and “Related” tabs. The new “video” button will sit right alongside the other popular like/dislike, comments, and save buttons. For the uninitiated, the music streaming service introduced the feature in 2019, which lets users switch between song and corresponding video without pausing the playback.

The latest shifting of the switcher icon makes the Now Playing screen top pane settle with just the cast icon. Also, the new change appears to be part of a redesign spotted back in November 2024. It makes the aforementioned like, comments, and save buttons next to the new video button appear right below the playback controls as opposed to the current scenario where those buttons stay on top of the playback controls.

The redesign rollout still needs to be determined even though it was spotted more than a couple of months ago. Some of the YouTube Music users on Reddit have also noticed the changes. Per the post’s opinions received, users feel the pill-shaped audio/video switcher up top appears more pronounced — although having it right below the controls is handy to reach.

Some other users also point out that having the cast button positioned below the playback controls is more handy than the audio/video switcher. Since the music streaming service appears to be testing the redesign, it could be further changed by the final official rollout.

In other news, YouTube has recently rolled out experimental features for its premium tier users. The notable ones amongst them include the ability to watch a YouTube video at 4x speed. Then there’s another nifty feature dubbed Jump Ahead, which should help users jump to their favorite content even faster.

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For the past few years, I’ve been pretty happily subscribed to YouTube Music via YouTube Premium. Not only does it save me from ads on either platform, but Google has slowly turned YouTube Music into a pretty decent streaming service. There’s a lot to like about it.

However, I haven't used Spotify since we were in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic, and even then, I wasn’t subscribed to it. So, I thought it might be good to revisit the app and actually take advantage of Spotify Premium to see what I’ve been missing out on.

Most of my friends and family use Spotify, and it seems much more omnipresent than the other music streaming apps when it comes to third-party integration. It’s pretty hard to escape Spotify, and using YouTube Music, I often feel a bit left out when new features are released or when anyone shares links to songs that I can’t listen to because I’m not subscribed.

After using Spotify exclusively for the past month, here are the things I like about the app, the things I still miss about YouTube Music, and whether or not I could see myself making the switch permanent.

The features that made me switch

The decision to switch didn’t come to me overnight. It’s something that I first considered doing during a New Year’s Eve trip in 2023 when I was in Hawaii with my friends. Someone is usually playing music for us to enjoy while we’re relaxing, playing games, or driving to and fro. Everyone else had Spotify, which I didn’t normally think about much prior to the trip, but there was one feature in particular that made me realize just how much I was missing out.

Spotify Jam is an incredibly useful feature that launched in the fall of 2023. It lets one person set up a “Jam,” which is essentially a queue of tunes that they can invite others to join in on. Anyone in the Jam can add songs and manage the order of songs, making it a collaborative DJing effort.

I love this feature because it lets everyone mix up the music queue and show off each others' music preferences. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, and while my friends enjoy it when I DJ, I know my tastes don’t always agree with everyone in the room, and there are certain genres or songs that I may not be too privy to that others may love.

Because of this, I made a point to make the switch to Spotify Premium ahead of our 2024 New Year’s Eve trip so that I could a Jam myself since I was the main one DJing this time around with my new Sony ULT Field 1. Spotify Jam also made it so I didn’t have to set up a playlist beforehand, which saved me a lot of time as we would just create a queue in real time. This feature alone made it worth subscribing to Premium, and if you’re late to the party and haven’t tried this feature out yet, I recommend it the next time you and your friends get together.

Another feature I absolutely love is a bit less flashy but almost as important to me. Spotify has a Smart Shuffle feature that will insert songs it thinks you will like when you shuffle a playlist you’ve created.

I sometimes find it difficult to discover new music, as I often become comfortable with what I know and like. I have several playlists that I cycle through depending on my mood, and so I’m very familiar with just about every song. I’ll often add a song every so often, but my playlists tend to stay pretty stagnant. This is why I like the Smart Shuffle feature so much; it keeps me in familiar territory while giving me something new to listen to that matches the other tunes in my playlist; that way, it doesn’t stick out so much or ruin the vibe.

Spotify’s AI DJ was also a feature I was really intrigued by, as it’s seemingly yet another way to discover tunes based on the music you like. The AI-generated DJ interjects every few songs to set up your listening experience, changing the vibe every so often with songs you’re familiar with or may like. It’s a unique feature that I find quite music, as it almost feels like you’re listening to the radio, something I don’t do much of these days.

That said, the execution is far from perfect. The DJ will often switch to genres or artists that I have zero interest in, and I feel like it will jump in to change the vibe of the tunes a little too often. Sometimes, I just want to stay in the same vibe or feeling for a while, and the DJ will switch things up at a whim, which feels quite jarring at times.

No doubt it’s a cool feature, one I think Spotify should tweak a bit. However, it does highlight one of my biggest problems with switching to Spotify, one that makes me miss YouTube Music.

Things I miss about YouTube Music

One of the best things about YouTube Music is that the app seemed to know me before I even started using it. When I first subscribed to YouTube Premium over the pandemic, I was surprised at how well the app was able to guess my tastes by recommending songs that I ended up loving. This is because YouTube Music is tied to the main YouTube app, and so my music searches throughout the years would influence YouTube Music’s knowledge of me.

This is something I am struggling with when it comes to Spotify. The app’s music recommendations just feel subpar compared to my experience with YouTube Music, and I find myself skipping songs more often than not. That’s not to say it’s all bad, and the songs that show up in Smart Shuffle are often great. But whether it’s via a song radio or the AI DJ, Spotify doesn’t seem to really get me.

Of course, I recognize that this is more of a growing pains situation and that the app will have to take some time to get used to my tastes. My previous experiences with Spotify were pretty limited, so it doesn’t have much to go on, which is evident whenever I compare my Spotify Wrapped and YouTube Music Recap every year. I can't be too hard on the app for not fully understanding my tastes, but I find that this is something that often makes me want to go back to YouTube Music.

Another thing that I find lacking on Spotify is the selection of music, but not so much in the way you might think. I’m a big fan of remixes and often prefer them over the original mix. Spotify has a vast selection of music and remixes, but I’ve learned pretty quickly that this is still pretty limited compared to YouTube Music.

The thing about YouTube Music is that its connection to YouTube makes it a much stronger music streaming platform, in my opinion. I find some of the coolest remixes completely out of the blue, and even when a particular song or mix isn’t available as a music track, I still have instant access to the song via a YouTube video without ever having to leave the app. And as a nice bonus, I can watch full music videos if I want to, which comes in handy when I’m on the treadmill and need visual stimulation.

I’ve already become pretty disappointed at the fact that I can’t find many of my favorite mixes on Spotify, but the lack of music videos right now is also pretty disappointing. Spotify may be a music streaming service with a focus on audio, but music videos are a pretty fundamental part of the music listening experience.

Will I stay or will I go?

After using Spotify for a couple of months, it's clear to me why it's such a popular platform. The app experience feels much more mature, for lack of a better word, and Spotify has a lot going for it despite the long wait for its long-awaited Hi-Fi tier.

Meanwhile, Google is continuously tweaking the YouTube Music UI on what feels like a daily basis. It feels like Google is trying to slowly turn YouTube Music into a Spotify clone, which isn't a bad thing, but it speaks volumes to just how good of an app experience it is.

That said, while Spotify is a favorite of ours here at Android Central, with some genuinely fun and useful features, the biggest thing keeping me from staying in the actual music experience. Spotify just doesn't know me as well as YouTube Music, and I'm not sure I want to put in much more effort teaching Spotify to learn about my likes and dislikes. After all, I'm here to listen to music that I want to hear, and right now, YouTube Music knows exactly what that is.

For now, I'll continue using Spotify to see how things improve, but there's a good chance I'll go back to YouTube Music for my music needs.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music revamped the 'Top Songs' section with a scrollable carousel, showing 20 tracks across five pages.
• A convenient 'Play All' button lets you instantly jam to all the tracks in the carousel.
• The carousel mirrors the 'Quick Picks' style from the Home tab, keeping the look consistent across the app.

YouTube Music just gave the 'Top Songs' section on artist pages a welcome update. The redesign aims to make it easier for fans to dive into an artist's biggest hits.

Before the update, artist pages showcased a list of five curated Top Songs upfront. You could tap 'More' to see the full list or start playback right away, with tracks flowing smoothly through the 'Up Next' queue.

The latest change, spotted by 9to5Google, revamps the Top Songs section on artist pages with a scrollable carousel. Each page shows four tracks, and you can swipe through five pages to check out all 20 songs.

This new layout makes it super easy to check out the top hits of a newly discovered artist since it eliminates the need to tap in order to expand the Top Songs section. All you need to do is swipe through and explore their music effortlessly.

Nevertheless, YouTube Music keeps it simple with a handy 'Play All' button in the revamped interface, letting you instantly play all the songs in the carousel.

The carousel's design closely mirrors the 'Quick Picks' layout from the Home tab. This cohesive style also carries over to other sections like 'Long listens' and 'Trending.'

According to 9to5Google, the revamped Top Songs section is widely available on Android and iOS, but some users haven’t seen the new carousel or Play All button yet. Looks like YouTube Music is rolling it out in phases.

YouTube Music has been on a roll with updates lately. The latest tweak follows the introduction of a new "monthly audience" metric on artist pages, giving fans a glimpse into an artist's reach and listener engagement. Late last year, the platform also added a much-requested feature: shareable links. Now, users can share specific timestamps in songs, podcasts, or other audio, making it easier to recommend the exact moment that hits just right, like the main YouTube app.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music detailed the start of its new "monthly audience" metric for fans on an artist's page.
• This statistic will involve more than just song listens on YouTube Music as the metric will grab video and Short views, collaboration views, and other content.
• YouTube Music's recent string of tests has involved AI, particularly its latest "restyle" test for 30-second AI-created clips.

YouTube Music is testing an interesting new stat for its artist pages, reminiscent of another platform.

The company detailed its latest test in a support page, stating it's "exploring new ways to show an artist’s presence and reach." YouTube Music explains this new "monthly audience" metric as a "fan-facing, public" statistic that will appear (for some) on an artist's discography page. Interestingly, the number of "unique" listeners won't come from YouTube Music alone.

The platform states that its experimental monthly audience stat concerns those who've listened to their music (obviously). However, this metric broadens its reach to the main YouTube video service, too. The explainer states that "non-music" content created by the artist will fall into this monthly metric. Additionally, views on long-form and short-form videos created/uploaded by the artist "or their label" count toward the "monthly listeners."

Elsewhere, YouTube states collaborations with an artist featured on other channels and videos/Shorts created by content creators using their music will factor into this number.

The post extends its reach to the YouTube Kids app, as well, for displaying how far an artist's "reach" goes.

It seems that YouTube Music will refresh this monthly audience statistic every "28 days."

Users may be familiar with a similar stat as Spotify also prominently features its "monthly listeners" number for artists. There is some overlap as Spotify states it refreshes the number every 28 days, as well. However, the company breaks that number into three "segments:" active audience, previously active, and programmed. The first are those actively listening most days with "previously active" regarding those who haven't in the past 28 days, but may still listen "from programmed sources."

The final segment involves listeners from "editorial playlists, Discover Weekly, Radio, Autoplay," and more.

The recently started YouTube Music test seems a little more tame compared to its trend toward AI via "restyle." With Dream Track access, content creators were given time with an AI-based feature that lets them "restyle" a song and turn it into a 30-second clip. This test lets users describe the feeling (mood) and genre of the new, restyled song they'd like.

What you need to know

• A weird YouTube Music bug shows users' November Top Listener badges twice.
• It's about time for the December Top Listener badges to be released, so this bug will likely be fixed when the real December badges come out.
• Top Listener badges are a collectible and shareable way to showcase the artists you listen to the most.

Music streaming services in 2025 have to balance delivering high-quality audio and creating memorable experiences. Things like Spotify Wrapped or Apple Music Replay are shareable and engaging, and YouTube Music has something of its own with Top Listener badges. They're collectible badges awarded to people who listen to certain artists more than almost anyone else on the platform. However, YouTube Music subscribers are finding a strange bug that has them seeing double.

Top Listener badges for YouTube Music can be earned monthly, but users are seeing their November badges replicated in the app. 9to5Google was the first to spot this small bug, which took the place of December badges expected to be sent this week.

YouTube Music badges show what percentile of top listeners you landed in for a particular artist. To find them, you can tap your profile photo and press the Badges tab. A page will open showing all the badges you've earned. Chances are, you'll see old badges duplicated rather than a new December badge thanks to this strange bug.

Like features such as Spotify Wrapped or YouTube Music Recap, the monthly Top Listener badges are shareable. You can create an image card by tapping the three-dot menu on a badge and select Share, then Save image.

As 9to5Google notes, the bug may be corrected when the real Top Listener badges are sent to users for the month of December. YouTube Music sent out the November badges on Dec. 2, 2024, so the official December badges should be released soon.

What you need to know

• Following the shuttering of Google Podcasts, YouTube Music is now Google's podcast delivery app, but it has lacked a few major features typically offered by podcast apps.
• Google is now adding the ability to share audio links from the YouTube Music app that start at a specific timestamp.
• The feature mimics the same functionality that was added to the main YouTube app this year, and is available on both iOS and Android.

Google made a major shift in its podcasts delivery strategy this year, shuttering Google Podcasts in favor of YouTube Music. That decision was met with ire from fans, because YouTube Music lacks a few features that are staples on other podcast apps. However, the company has been making slow-and-steady progress with YouTube Music, and that's continuing — the app is gaining a long-overdue feature that'll be helpful for podcast listeners.

Just like the main YouTube app, you can now create a shareable link in the YouTube Music app for a song, podcast, or other recording that starts at a specific timestamp. The new addition, first spotted by 9to5Google, appears to be the result of a server-side change. Android Central confirmed the feature's availability on a variety of Android 14 and Android 15 devices, which didn't require an update.

After tapping the share button on the now playing screen, there is now a toggle at the top right corner of the share card that reads Start at [timestamp]. This will create a link for sharing that starts at your current timestamp. It's helpful for when you only want to share a specific part of a long podcast. The app will add t=XX to the link, where XX is the current position in the timeline in seconds. Then, you can share it like any other YouTube Music link.

Although the feature may be more useful for long-form audio content, like podcasts, it'll work for any type of content in YouTube Music, including songs. Now, whether you're using the YouTube or YouTube Music app, you'll be able to create a shareable link that starts at a specific timestamp.

The new option appears to be widely available on both iOS and Android; however, at least one of Android Central's devices had not yet received the server-side change. It's also available on the YouTube Music web client, which was redesigned earlier this year.

What you need to know

• YouTube is testing a redesign of YouTube Music's Now Playing screen for a number of users.
• The company last tweaked the look of Now Playing in September 2023, and is beginning to make new changes a little over a year later.
• Highlights of the changes include the main play/pause set of controls appearing directly below the album artwork and song title.

Over a year after YouTube last tweaked the Now Playing screen in the YouTube Music app, new changes may be coming. Multiple reports from Reddit users and 9to5Google indicated that YouTube Music's Now Playing page was testing a significant shakeup, with buttons moving around and a new-look scrubber. Android Central can confirm the test firsthand, as the redesigned Now Playing screen has appeared on at least one of our devices.

Previously, the actions carousel appeared directly under the song title, artist, and album artwork. This carousel gives users access to buttons for like, dislike, comments, sharing and more. However, the new test moves the main playback controls — including play/pause, forward/rewind, and shuffle/loop — directly under the song title and artist name.

The test moves those crucial Now Playing buttons closer to the center of the screen, and the song details. It also shifts them further away from the bottom of the screen, which may cause reachability issues when using your phone one-handed. This is a unique problem for YouTube Music, because it has the actions carousel that forces the main Now Playing buttons upward or downward on the screen. Other streaming apps, like Spotify and Apple Music, don't have this problem because they don't have an actions carousel or equivalent.

Additionally, the timeline is redesigned, taking cues from the main YouTube app. It's now a rectangle without a visible dot for the scrubber. Instead, the scrubber will appear if you try and hold and drag along the timeline to skip or go back. It's a more minimalist design that will feel familiar if you're used to other Google timeline scrubbers.

Of course, since the Now Playing buttons are moved up, the actions carousel must be moved down. It's now in between the up next/lyrics/related buttons at the very bottom of the screen and the main Now Playing buttons.

While these changes may take some getting used to, it has been a while since YouTube Music updated its Now Playing screen, so maybe it was time for a tweak or two. This seems to be a somewhat limited test for now, and we're not sure when it might roll out to all YouTube Music users. You might have to wait and hope you get lucky, like those YouTube Music users who got their Rewind stats early.

What you need to know

• A Reddit user already has their hands on YouTube Music 2024 Recap.
• The Recap, which should normally arrive towards the end of November or the first week of December, is already here for some.
• If more users get the Recap in the coming days, it will be quite earlier than Spotify's Wrapped.

YouTube Music has a fancy way of engaging its users by showing them the top songs, albums, and artists they've listened to over the year. It is called YouTube Music Recap. Some lucky users this year are getting an early preview of their recaps.

A Reddit user, FesteringDarkness (via Android Authority), appears to be one of the lucky YouTube Music users who have already gotten their hands on the YouTube Recap 2024. Per the shared screenshot of the latest Recap, one can see the user's respective Top artists and Top Tracks on YouTube Music that they listened to the most throughout 2024.

Got my yearly recap from r/YoutubeMusic

Additionally, users can see the number of total minutes they spent on the YouTube Music app listening to their favorites. Alongside the top tracks and artists, users can notice their top albums as well. While the Recap is kind of new to YouTube's streaming platform, its competitor Spotify has had it for a while, dubbed Spotify Wrapped.

If history is any guide, the latter's summary frequently arrives early. Just after Spotify's Wrapped last year, YouTube Music released its 2023 Recap, which took place in late November 2023. Even though we are in the same month this year, some individuals receiving it ahead of schedule could indicate that YouTube Music will release the Recap early.

Alternatively, the person who received it might have been extremely fortunate, or there might have been a glitch in the streaming service. As more users may receive it in the upcoming weeks, it should become evident.

Users who want to access their Recap on YouTube Music can either look for the banner, which should appear when the Recap of their music is ready, or navigate to the "Your Recap" section from their My Account page on the music streaming app.

Meanwhile, YouTube and YouTube Music gained some nifty improvements through a major update last month. The music streaming service has introduced new Badges, which users can add to their favorite creators.

Also, both have gained the ability to customize their playlist thumbnails by choosing a photo of their personal choice or relying on Generative AI entirely.

What you need to know

• A discovery in the YouTube Music app's code suggests the company is working on bringing "Flex Window" support to Samsung's clamshell foldable, the Flip.
• The widget will likely give users quick playback controls like play/pause and skip forward/back buttons.
• When Samsung debuted "Flex Window" in 2023, it was clear that it needed some work as users were limited through this "curated, optimized experience."

YouTube Music could be working on support for clamshell foldable phones to refine its user experience.

According to Android Authority, the YouTube Music mobile app's latest version (v7.24.51) holds clues that point toward a "FlipWidgetProvider." The publication conducted an APK teardown of the app and found a string that directly mentions a widget for a "flip" device, which is reportedly confirmed to be Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series.

The post states the app's code shows that the "music player" widget can be enabled via Settings > Cover Screen > Widgets once YouTube rolls it out. Users may find this useful as such a widget isn't supported on the Flip series. However, it is on your standard slab phone like the Galaxy S24 series for the home screen. The widget gives options like play/pause, skip forward/back, and thumbs up/down options.

With its expected arrival on the Flip series' cover display, users can have enhanced access to their music without opening the phone. Considering the size of the Galaxy Z Flip cover display, this widget will give users more mileage. Speaking of, it's unclear which devices will grab YouTube Music's widget support.

The widget will likely debut on the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Flip 5; however, it's unclear how far back Samsung is willing to go.

Samsung dubbed the larger screen of its Flip series the "Flex Window" when the Flip 5 launched in 2023. It was clear from the beginning that the "window" needed to be more flexible. Users couldn't open any app they wanted on the cover display. Samsung implemented a "curated, optimized experience," limiting your options. Originally, the Flip 5's cover screen supported the following apps: Google Messages, Samsung Messages, WhatsApp, YouTube, Netflix, and Google Maps.

The ability to open more apps was tucked behind Samsung's Good Lock app launcher. The launcher gave users control over almost every app they had. This YouTube Music widget with Flex Window support will likely give users a more refined music control experience.

In other news, YouTube Music was busy rolling out a Gemini Extension for desktop and Android users. Users will find a series of suggested commands for the AI for music lookup, album discovery, or specific radio genre. After Gemini locates the song, users are thrown into YouTube Music for the playback or continuous radio stream.

•  Phone deals: Best Buy | Walmart | Samsung | Amazon | Verizon | AT&T

What you need to know

• Google announced a slew of upgrades to YouTube and YouTube Music last week, including support for custom playlist thumbnails.
• Previously, users could ask generative AI to create a thumbnail for them, but could not upload their own.
• Now, users are starting to see the feature appear in the YouTube Music web player after verifying their phone number. Mobile app support seems to be coming later.

YouTube and YouTube Music are getting a few new features this month, and a big one is starting to roll out: custom playlist thumbnails. YouTube Music is a formidable competitor to Apple Music and Spotify, especially if you already pay for YouTube Premium. However, it sometimes lacks core features that we take for granted in other music streaming apps. Now, YouTube Music is catching up to its competition by letting users upload their own photos and artwork as playlist thumbnails.

The feature is appearing widely for YouTube Music users on the platform's web player, found at music.youtube.com. The rollout was first spotted by 9to5Google, and it appears to be limited to the YouTube Music web client for the time being. Additionally, YouTube seems to be requiring users to verify their phone numbers before uploading photos. If you're not seeing the option for custom thumbnails, check that your phone is verified.

After opening a playlist, you can tap on the pencil icon to select a photo from your phone, tablet, or computer. The web client offers a built-in cropping tool, allowing you to resize your custom image to fit the playlist's square aspect ratio. After that, you're all set — but you can tap the pencil icon and select Remove custom image to revert your changes at any time. 

Other music streaming services, like Apple Music and Spotify, have offered custom playlist thumbnails for quite a while, allowing users to personalize their playlists as they see fit. The custom playlist thumbnails are perhaps more useful to YouTube Music subscribers, but they're also available on YouTube, as Google showcases in the video below. 

Oddly enough, YouTube has offered a way for users to personalize their playlist thumbnails since 2023, but it has been limited to AI-generated artwork. Being that playlists are always made with a personal touch, using your own photos feels like a natural choice. 

Luckily, YouTube Music subscribers don't have to feel envious of other streaming services with the emergence of custom playlist thumbnails on the platform. Next, we'll be keeping our eye out to see if the feature makes its way to the YouTube Music mobile app, or if there are any limitations.

What you need to know

• YouTube has launched many new features for its video and audio streaming platforms.
• As part of the update, users can invite or collaborate playlists with friends and family using a unique link or QR code.
• People using playlists on the platform can use their preferred photos as thumbnails. 
• Other features include creator badges and new UI for Shorts on TV, among others.

YouTube has announced several new features coming to the streaming platform alongside YouTube Music. Google notes that users can expect over two dozen improvements in updates that include the platform on the web, mobile, and TVs as well.

In the announcement blog post, these updates comprise some "highly requested features"—like fine-tunable playback speed (with 0.05 increments), improved landscape browsing experience, updates to thumbnails, and some visual improvements.

YouTube's mobile app now has a new mini-player. Browsing for other videos while already watching a video should be a lot smoother now, as users can now even resize and play with it by moving it around across all sides of the screen.

YouTube playlists are also improved with the latest release. People can invite others to their playlists using a "special link" or a QR code for easy additions. The capability is said to be coming soon to TV as well.

YouTube and YouTube Music already allow users to create custom thumbnails for their playlists with the help of generative AI. This ability is now expanding as users can even add their preferred photos by picking from their camera roll to give it a personal touch. Personalization can include adding text to the image, filters, or stickers.

Furthermore, friends in the playlists can also vote on videos to curate the best ones from the playlist. It is also believed to be beneficial for creators as they can have their viewers rank their content. YouTube states this feature will roll out later this year.

Besides, YouTube is also introducing badges for the first time on its mobile and YouTube Music apps. They can badge their favorite creators for the content they love. Similarly, users can also earn badges "for being a top listener of their favorite artist or having a creator heart your comment."

YouTube is also gaining Sleep Timer, which allows users to set a timer to "automatically pause videos after a certain duration of time." The feature was initially tested for Premium subscribers; however, it is said to be available for all users starting Tuesday (Oct 12).

YouTube's TV experience will also receive some improvements with the new update, and visual changes can be seen on the web and mobile. For instance, watching Shorts on TV should be more seamless, as a new UI offers "continued interaction with the content."

YouTube also states that all these new updates are the result of consumers' feedback and highly requested features, as mentioned above. Users across Android devices, iOS, the web, and TV should be seeing these new changes starting this week.

• Streaming deals: Disney+ | Max | Sling | Fubo | Peacock | Paramount+

What you need to know

• Apple Music and YouTube Music both now support the transfer of music playlists.
• On the corresponding support page, both companies shared the process of transferring playlists.
• Currently, the transfer is supported across these music streaming services only.

Apple Music and Google's YouTube Music have partnered to offer their users a hassle-free experience, including the ability to transfer saved playlists across music streaming platforms.

Previously, transferring playlists from one streaming platform to another wasn't that convenient, as it involved third-party apps like Soundiiz and Tune My Music. Such apps also required a fee to transfer songs/ playlists without any restrictions. It might soon change with the newly announced ability for Apple Music and YouTube Music users (via MacRumors).

Users who wish to transfer their playlists from Apple Music to YouTube Music or vice versa can now do so, as both streaming giants have shared the respective step-by-step process through their support pages. Apple account holders can head to their Data and Privacy page and request to "Transfer a copy of your data." Users can then select Apple Music playlists to be transferred to YouTube Music. 

Likewise, YouTube Music users will be able to transfer their playlists through the Google Takeout feature. They can similarly follow the onscreen instructions to transfer playlists from YouTube Music to Apple Music. While the process appears hassle-free, there are a few things to keep in mind before transferring.

To make playlist transfer more swift, users must have an active subscription to the aforementioned music streaming platforms. While playlists are transferred quickly, they won't be deleted once the transfer is done. Also, transfers are only possible between Apple Music and YouTube Music, not even Spotify. Users would still have to rely on the above-mentioned third-party services for any music transfer.

The latest transferring feature doesn't support other songs in the library except from the playlists. It is also dependent on song availability across both platforms, meaning that when a song from a playlist isn't available on the other platform that is being shared, users can still be out of luck.

While it is an exciting start to see transferring music to an extent between Apple Music and YouTube Music, it will be more beneficial if other major players in the music streaming industry also collaborate with each other to bring users a unified experience and easy switching between streaming platforms.

• Headphone deals: Walmart | Best Buy | Amazon | Dell

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is adding a personal radio feature that you can showcase on your profile, alongside your other top stats.
• This personal radio playlist will presumably update daily and reflect your latest listening habits.
• You will be able to share this playlist with friends via a link, and they can add it to their own libraries.

YouTube Music is adding a feature to showcase your personalized radio on your profile and channel, alongside your top songs, artists, music videos, and playlists.

According to Reddit user Rolan_Albarico, YouTube Music is rolling out a shareable personal radio feature (via 9to5Google). This playlist, updated daily and pinned to your profile, is said to reflect your latest listening habits and musical tastes.

YouTube Music's customizable profiles, launched in April of last year, let users highlight their top songs, artists, playlists, and videos. Now, the platform is adding a new twist in the form of a shareable personal radio.

This playlist can be shared with others via a link or added to your library. Plus, anyone with the URL can save it to their own library as well.

It’s a fresh way to showcase and share your evolving music tastes.

YouTube Music's shareable personal radio appears to be rolling out in stages. When it’s available for you, just go to your profile settings and find "Privacy and location" under "Channel settings." Then, flip the switch for "Enable public stats" or "Enable public personal radio" to start sharing your personalized radio station.

Unlike collaborative playlists that mix tastes from multiple users, YouTube Music's new personal radio is all about you. It zeroes in on your own listening history to create a music stream that's the perfect match for your specific tastes.

The music streaming world is a real battleground, with YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music constantly vying for the top spot. These platforms are always innovating, copying each other’s best features, and trying to one-up each other to win and keep users.

But if you love sharing your music tastes with friends, YouTube Music’s upcoming personal radio might be a game-changer.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is testing a new AI feature that lets users describe their mood to create custom radio stations.
• This feature seems to be currently in a limited testing phase with only a few users.
• When fully rolled out, expect to see a purple and pink tile in the Home feed labeled "Ask for music any way you like."

 YouTube Music is apparently trying out a new AI feature where you can whisper song wishes to Google's AI gods.

A Reddit user going by the name kater_pro stumbled upon a new feature while browsing through the YouTube Music app. It looks like this feature is still in its testing phase and is only available to a small group of users at the moment (via 9to5Google).

This experimental feature uses text prompts, letting users describe the kind of music vibe they want. The built-in AI then creates a custom radio station with songs that match the mood.

When and if it's rolled out, this feature is expected to have a unique tile in the Home feed, labeled "Ask for music any way you like." This eye-catching tile will likely be in bright purple and pink colors, as shown in the screenshot below.

It’s designed to look like the "Create a radio: Your music tuner" card that you can already find in the Library tab. However, this feature requires you to pick a starting song or artist to get a playlist of similar tunes.

The interface allows for dynamic station customization with a chat window at the bottom of the screen and a handy list of prompts right above it. This interactive feature invites users to fine-tune their musical experience by speaking or typing in their preferences, from lively pop anthems to exploring the emerging Moscow rock scene.

Earlier reports hinted at ongoing talks between YouTube and major record labels with the goal of securing licensing rights for copyrighted songs, setting the stage for advanced AI tools in the YouTube Music app.

This feature is quite similar to Spotify's "AI DJ" and PlaylistAI, a third-party app that works with both Spotify and Apple Music. Although YouTube Music doesn't yet have an AI DJ that offers musical commentary, this new addition hints at a possible direction for future updates.

The Reddit user's subscription status is unknown, making it unclear who can access this feature. Previously, AI-powered tools on YouTube have been limited to paying subscribers, which might suggest that this new music exploration tool could also be part of a premium offering.

The feature seems to be in its early stages. 9to5Google mentioned just one Reddit user discovering it, with no other reports confirming this. This lack of evidence hints at a possible delay in making the feature widely available.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music's web version now features a fresh, two-column layout for albums and playlists, similar to the Android tablet app.
• The left column displays album art, release year, detailed descriptions, and handy control buttons.
• Meanwhile, the right column lists tracks with play counts, durations, and artist details.

YouTube Music's latest update for its web version features a new look for albums and playlists, adopting a layout similar to its Android tablet app.

YouTube Music has introduced a two-column interface for albums and playlists on its web version, as spotted by 9to5Google. This fresh design is perfect for bigger screens, displaying album art, release year, and a detailed description in the left column. You'll also find handy control buttons like play, download, and share right there.

Meanwhile, the second column lists all the tracks in the album or playlist, complete with play counts, durations, and artist details. The new layout for albums and playlists first appeared on Android tablets.

Previously, YouTube Music's web layout for albums and playlists was less than ideal. The first column, crammed with album art and details, hogged the entire top section, while the song list sat below in a lone column. This setup left large, empty margins, wasting valuable screen space on desktops and missing the mark for a more user-friendly experience.

The new two-column interface is a big win for using desktop screen space effectively. This smart layout makes the most of your screen, offering a richer user experience. By placing information across two columns, it delivers a lot of content at once while avoiding any clutter.

This new interface is part of the music streaming platform's ongoing effort to improve the user experience. Recent updates include a revamped Cast menu and a redesigned Now Playing UI that matches the mobile app.

While the new, streamlined interface has many benefits, some users have raised concerns. As noted by Android Police, some YouTube Music subscribers find the redesign tricky to navigate. Reddit discussions also highlight worries about a possibly reduced user experience.

Anyway, the update is still in progress, so it might not be available to everyone just yet.

What you need to know

• Garmin has added YouTube Music to its range of music apps.
• You can download the YouTube Music app from the Connect IQ store on your phone or Garmin device and then follow the login steps and enter an eight-digit code on your watch.
• Currently, the app works with newer Garmin models like the Forerunner, Fenix, Epix, Venu, and Enduro lines.

Garmin just made workouts more fun by adding YouTube Music to its wide selection of music apps.

YouTube Music is now available in the Connect IQ store, according to the company's announcement. To get started, just head to the Connect IQ store on your phone or Garmin device and download the music streaming app.

After that, open the app on your phone and follow the login steps. You'll get an eight-digit code to enter on your Garmin device, and once that's done, you're all set to explore the platform's more than 100 million songs. 

Once you're paired up, your YouTube Music playlists and podcasts will sync to your Garmin watch. This lets you use your watch's full storage and enjoy your tunes without needing your phone nearby. Just tap to stream your music or podcasts straight to your headphones, making it perfect for workouts or long commutes.

Previously, Garmin users had a limited selection of music apps, including Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer.

Downloading the app is free, and it works on both iOS and Android phones. However, it's currently compatible only with some of Garmin's newer models like the Forerunner, Fenix, Epix, Venu, and Enduro lines.

Here's the full list:

While only certain Garmin devices can use YouTube Music currently, Garmin states in the app's listing that more models will be supported soon.

The YouTube Music app might not have a flashy look, but it gets the job done, offering a smooth and essential experience similar to other music apps on Garmin watches. Just like those, you'll need a YouTube Music subscription to use it on your watch.

Remember that long-ago episode of the sitcom Married…With Children when Al Bundy was tortured because he couldn’t remember the name of a song? All he could recall was the tune “hmm, hmm, hiiiim.” While the ability to search for a tune with such vague recollection of the lyrics or rhythm might not yet be on the horizon, you can, in fact, sing or hum a part of a song on YouTube to hopefully locate it.

This new song identification feature works similarly to one that Google already offers in its own app and on Pixel mobile devices. But now, it’s extended to YouTube as well.

How to search for a song on YouTube by singing or humming

If you want to get a detailed list of results that pertain to a song, band, or artist, you can search for the tune right in the YouTube app.

1. Open the YouTube app on your Android mobile device.

2. Tap the Search icon (magnifying glass) at the top, right.

3. A pop-up may appear asking you to Allow YouTube to record audio. Choose While using the app or Only this time. (Note: if you choose Only this time, you will have to adjust settings for the app to use this feature again).

4. Select the Song tab at the top.

5. The results will pop up after a few seconds of humming, singing, or playing a tune. You may see something like related videos, links to the music video for the song, and any other related content, including covers, viral videos, and more.

6. You can also filter the results by Shorts, Videos, Unwatched, Watched, Recently Uploaded, and Live to drill down to exactly what you want.

How to search for a song on YouTube Music by singing or humming

If you want to get a more specific result that just shows the song and gives you the option to play or save it, use YouTube Music.

1. Open the YouTube Music app on your Android mobile device.

2. Tap the Search icon (magnifying glass) at the top, right.

3. Beside the tiny microphone icon to the right of the search bar, you should also see a little wavelength symbol. Select that.

4. You may be prompted to Allow YouTube Music to record audio. Select either While using the app or Only this time. (Note: if you choose Only this time, you will have to adjust settings for the app to use this feature again).

5. You’re then prompted to play, hum, or sing a tune. You’ll need to give more than just three notes, but do your best for as long as you can. AI will analyze your musical prowess and try to find the song.

6. Voila! You should get the tune with the option to play or save it to your playlist.

Boost your playlists and music knowledge

Provided you have given enough information, ths method to search for a song on YouTube and YouTube Music should work. I tried it multiple times and it was pretty good at identifying tracks both old and new. With YouTube, you can explore a video of the song itself as well as tons of other related content, from covers to interviews with the band, and more. With YouTube Music, you can easily add songs to your playlist. But it isn’t foolproof.

With YouTube Music, for example, I once got a different version of a track from the one I wanted, but close enough. Another time, it called up a cover of a song versus the actual one. A few times, my 12-year-old son tried, albeit with some more obscure and difficult-to-identify tracks, and it chose the wrong ones.

Nonetheless, the feature is fun to use. And if you hold up your phone to the actual track that's playing versus attempting your best Billy Eilish or Ed Sheeran impersonation, the app will almost certainly be able to identify it.

Note that you can already use Google Assistant to identify songs as well. But this handy new feature further solidifies YouTube Music’s position as one of the best music player apps for Android.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music is starting to roll out a server-side update on Android, which brings a new wavelength icon for vocal song identification.
• After hitting the search icon, users tapping the wavelength can "play, hum, or sing" a tune to provoke the app's AI to try and identify the song.
• The "results" page offers the album cover, song title, artist (or group), album year, play, button, and a save option.

YouTube Music is starting to roll out a feature on Android that lets users utilize their voice to search for songs they can't get out of their heads.

As spotted by 9to5Google, users should begin noticing a wavelength icon beside the microphone symbol when tapping search in YouTube Music (to the far right of the search bar). As of update 7.02, tapping the wavelength symbol produces a colorful page that prompts users to "play, hum, or sing" a tune to run an AI-backed search through the platform. 

Once YouTube Music gets a match, users are given a simple splash page with all the information about the song. The "results" page shows a song's album cover, title, group (or artist), and the album's title with its debut year. Moreover, users can play the song right there or save it to a new or pre-existing playlist.

YouTube Music's new song identification can continue as the platform offers the same wavelength symbol at the bottom. Its reappearance lets users restart the search process instead of backing out into the app's search page.

The publication adds that users can also download the song, which is likely an option tucked into the three-dot menu.

While the new song identification has been spotted in version 7.02 of YouTube Music, the feature is reportedly activated via a server-side update. In the meantime, users should ensure they're running the latest app version. Despite running software version 7.02.51 we haven't noticed the feature yet.

Users will be familiar with the idea of humming to search for a song as the Google app has had it for a few years now. You're able to hum, sing, or even whistle, and Search will try and match the melody to the correct song. Similarly, a type of song identification hit Pixels a few months ago, letting the device keep its ears open to songs. Through "Now Playing," Pixel phones can identify what song is playing if enabled and can notify the user so they're not dreading it later.

In other news, YouTube Music's Gemini extension finally arrived for Android and desktop users yesterday (May 23). After connecting their YouTube Music account, users can begin asking the AI to find specific songs made by an artist they're familiar with. Asking Gemini to "play" a song works on Android, however, it's not functioning properly on the web yet.

What you need to know

• Gemini's YouTube Music extension is rolling out now for desktop and Android, with an array of prompts users can give the AI.
• Users must make sure their YouTube Music and Gemini accounts are the same and hop into their extension settings to enable it.
• Prompts include asking Gemini to find a specific music genre radio, songs by artist, playlists, and more.

A couple of weeks after Gemini's YouTube Music extension was discovered, Google is officially rolling it out for English-only prompts.

Arriving as a Gemini extension, Google explains that users can connect YouTube Music to the AI bot on the web with their account (via 9to5Google). However, the company states this account must be the same for Gemini and YouTube Music. Functionality includes asking Gemini to "show, find, or play" songs, albums, artists, your custom playlists, and more.

It seems that the YouTube Music extension is disabled by default. On your PC or the Gemini app, hop into your extensions settings and quickly toggle the extension on to get going.

Users can give Gemini a few prompts with the extension such as "play me rock music radio," "play music that I like," and more. Google then provided a few prompt formats that users can use interchangeably with different music genres.

• Find [song name] by [artist name]
• Find the album [album title] by [artist name]
• Find [playlist name] playlist
• Find [genre] music
• Search for songs similar to [song name] by [artist name]

Gemini can "play" a specific song when asked, however, it doesn't appear to be working on computers. Gemini returns with a "I can't assist you with playing media yet, but I can provide you with a link to the song on YouTube Music" response. The publication was able to play music through Gemini on the Android app, which produces the YouTube Music app.

Moreover, users must accept a few permissions before the extension can work. Google informs that Gemini needs access to your playback history, playlists, and preferences. The company adds via its support page that your watch history is stored "based on your settings" when using the new extension.

A lot was going on with Google and its adventures with AI during its I/O 2024 keynote. The company highlighted several improvements for Gemini, such as its faster 1.5 Flash model. This variant is said to handle "high-volume, high-frequency tasks at scale" while being faster and lighter than the Pro model.

Gemini Nano for Android devices is getting a boost, courtesy of Multimodality. The company stated this will help the AI "understand the world the way people do." There's also a brand new wave of image and video generation technology entering the scene, thanks to Veo and Imagen 3.

I'm certain Google execs think the YouTube Premium + YouTube Music bundle is generous and fairly priced. For some people, it's not.

It's nearly a year on since YouTube raised Premium's price from $11.99 to $13.99. From that point on, YouTube killed its short-lived Premium Lite experiment, ensuring you had to pay for Music in addition to Premium.

Google then ended its grandfathered YouTube Red plans at the beginning of 2024, so people used to paying $8 or $10 suddenly had their bills skyrocket. Finally, it spent this year finding every possible method of counteracting ad blockers.

I'm a bit late to the discussion. Since the price hike, I scrounged a year or so of free YouTube Premium thanks to free 3-month trials from various Android phones, tablets, and watches. Now that they've run out, I've grown accustomed to seeing an ad every 10 minutes or less, or if I pause too long and the page auto-refreshes, or if I scroll back to check something and hit an ad checkpoint. 

YouTube doesn't care how obnoxious the experience is for everyday viewers. It wants to annoy us into giving Google money and enhancing its bottom line. The problem is how much they charge. 

Let's do a little comparative exercise. Most streaming platforms now offer a low-tier ad option, followed by an ad-free upgrade. They all cost more than YouTube, a free service. But how much does each platform charge to remove ads, specifically?

• Prime Video ($3)
• HBO Max ($6)
• Paramount+ ($6)
• Peacock ($6)
• Netflix ($8.50)
• Hulu ($10)
• Disney+ ($10)
• YouTube ($14)

Streaming companies have the same mandate from shareholders to maximize profits, and they've all begun to alienate long-time customers by geolocking accounts. They're just as greedy for our money, in other words. And even they wouldn't charge an extra $14 for no ads. 

Edit: To clarify, I'm aware that you have to pay for these other services and that YouTube starts off free. Obviously, Prime Video is only a "deal" if you pay for Prime, and these services end up being more expensive than Premium overall. I'm specifically pointing out the one thing related to this article: removing ads. And Google charges more for that than anyone else, bundling in a lot more stuff to bring the total price closer to other services.

"Now hold on," I can picture YouTube CEO Neal Mohan saying, "Those don't give you a music streaming service in the bargain." And that's true! Most music streaming services cost about $11/month, including YouTube Music. So to spend only $3 more for no YouTube ads is eminently fair. 

This assumes, however, that you care about YouTube Music. And I don't. I had to use it while reviewing the Fitbit Charge 6 — which, annoyingly, blocks playback controls for every music app besides YouTube Music. Otherwise, I haven't gotten my money's worth. 

It's not that YouTube Music is bad. My coworkers swear by it, and its music recommendations aren't bad, if not quite as on point as what I've gotten from Spotify or Apple Music. I simply don't need it, as I have all of my MP3 files and playlists somewhere else! I could switch, but I dislike having that choice made for me.

Edit: Removing my mention of local files streaming. It's not that YT Music can't stream local files, it's that my coworker found that it struggled to load the files, making it unusable for him. Perhaps that's no longer an issue? Regardless, my main point — that not everyone needs another music streaming service foisted on them, no matter how good it is — was being lost.

Compare YouTube Premium and Apple One. Premium is $6 less per month, and some people might not care about Apple throwing in Arcade and a meager 50GB of iCloud storage. On the other hand, you aren't forced to pay for Apple One; you can subscribe to Music by itself, or TV+ by itself.

If I could sneak into YouTube's offices and send emails from Mohan's computer, I'd mandate a few changes. For instance, I'd offer an annual Premium family plan so that entertaining the whole family with endless streaming was more affordable. I'd also add a Google One bundle with ad-free YouTube, in addition to the current Gemini Advanced AI bundle. 

But those don't qualify as "mistakes," merely missed opportunities. Not expanding its $7/month YouTube Premium Lite outside of Europe was a mistake. 

If Google offered a slightly cheaper ad-free experience, it would have a heck of a lot more Premium subscribers than 100 million. Yes, that might temporarily decrease the flow of its money hose to shareholders, but it would bring in more people than Android power users in the long run — users who love YouTube but don't need another music platform. 

It could still try to upsell people to the main Premium tier with 4K videos, video downloads, background play, and Music. That's a fair amount of value to double the subscription cost! But leave it for consumers to choose, with a Lite option to open up long hours of streaming to more people. 

Instead, I'm certain Google will keep YouTube Premium bogged down with an inflated price to keep Music's subscriber numbers consistent. And since Premium is too expensive for some folks, they'll grit their teeth and endure videos oversaturated with ads.

What you need to know

• A discovery in the main Google app shows the company's plans to bring a YouTube Music extension to Gemini.
• The extension may let users ask the bot to find songs based on their mood, playlists, history, and more.
• A previous leak in the Gemini for Android app showed Google is bringing a "Music" option to let users choose which services it draws its information from.

A discovery in the main Google app suggests that its Gemini chatbot is preparing to integrate YouTube Music into the app.

According to information from AssembleDebug, Android Authority states version 15.17.28.29.arm64 of the main Google app teases a YouTube Music extension. The early preview shows Google's description of the add-on, which reads, "play, search, and discover your favorite songs, artists, playlists, and more."

When communicating with Gemini in the Google app, the tipster found that users can ask the bot to play songs or radio based on their mood. When stating you're in an "upbeat and energetic mood," it seems Gemini will respond with three suggestions.

It's worth noting that this early preview responded with music compilations and not individual titles.

Moreover, Gemini may offer a link to a YouTube Music radio station that fits your criteria if desired. Tapping on any of the links is said to launch the YouTube Music app with your chosen piece of content readily available to play.

When installed, a permissions screen was discovered, detailing that YouTube Music's extension will pull data from your playlists, history, and preferences. It also advises users that some of their information will be shared with the streaming platform to "improve its services and personalize" their experience.

Within the code, the YouTube Music extension for Gemini will continue to work without the music platform's app installed. The tipster noticed that tapping on a link will open YouTube Music's web variant if the app isn't installed on a device.

It's unclear when Google plans to debut its music extension in Gemini. However, considering how far it has progressed, it could arrive sooner rather than later.

Before Google swapped Bard for Gemini, the company unveiled a slew of extensions for the AI chatbot last September. These add-ons supercharged the bot, allowing it to draw real-time information from a user's connected apps, such as Maps, YouTube, Hotels, and Flights.

A previous Gemini leak showed that users could soon gain the option to decide which music streaming service they prefer the bot to pull data from. This will likely be done through the "Music" option in Gemini's settings once it arrives. Users can likely use this as an alternative as there's a chance that Spotify will appear there for quick AI assistance.

What you need to know

• YouTube Music's new Cast menu no longer appears in the middle of your display.
• With the latest change, the menu slides up from the bottom with sections for the current cast device, Suggested devices, and Other devices.
• Interestingly, the "stop casting" and "play/pause" buttons from the previous interface are omitted.

YouTube Music is rolling out a new minor design change for the Cast menu on the music platform for Android devices.

As spotted by 9to5Google, Google is finally ditching the pop-up Cast menu design on the YouTube Music app in favor of a new interface that slides up from the bottom of the screen. The music streaming platform started testing the "Cast to device" redesign in February this year. It appears the rollout is now official.

On the YouTube Music app for Android phones, the Cast button is at the top right end of the interface or on the minimized "Now Playing" view at the bottom. When tapped, both trigger a new pop-up that showcases the compatible devices available to stream. The new UI also does the same, but instead of popping up in the center of the screen, it slides up from the bottom with a much smoother animation.

The other nifty change in the new sheet is the introduction of two new sections dubbed "Suggested" and "Other devices." Also, if something's being played, there is even a shorter preview of the new sheet. 

For comparison, this is what the old cast menu looked like.

Another interesting thing about the new interface is the omission of "Stop Casting" and the play/pause button, as seen on the previous pop-up interface. Alternatively, to stop casting from the selected device, users must choose "This phone" to get back to the audio streaming on their phone instead of the casted device. 

9to5 further notes that the new Cast UI already went live for the iOS version of the YouTube Music app, and as for Android, the new UI can be seen on the app version 6.49 and above. Users have to bear in mind that it is a server-side update from YouTube, so it could soon show up on your screens, and it should be an interesting change for those who rely on streaming music across multiple devices. 

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What you need to know

• After shutting down Google Podcasts for good, Google shared an interview with YouTube's chief product officer to discuss the future of podcasts on YouTube Music.
• YouTube Music wants to become the "ultimate destination" for podcasts, both for creators and listeners. 
• Unfortunately, the interview did not include much to address concerns podcast users have with YouTube Music, such as the absence of core features like new episode notifications. 

Whether we like it or not, YouTube Music is the future of podcast hosting at Google. With the company shutting down Google Podcasts once and for all earlier this month, YouTube Music is Google's focus moving forward. In an interview published by YouTube, the platform's Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich explained the plan "to make YouTube Music the ultimate destination for podcasters and fans alike."

Despite podcasts being an audio-first medium, YouTube wants to lean into what it does best: video. YouTube says it has made changes to the YouTube Music app to better support audio-centric content, but it adds that video can provide extra value to a podcast. "The second way we think about podcasts is [as an] eyes-optional experience," Voolich said. "So, stuff that's great to hear and listen to, but also can be great to watch as well."

Voolich emphasized the possibility for users to start listening to a podcast and finish it by watching the video version or vice versa.

Again, leaning into its strengths, YouTube thinks the platform's experience in building algorithms will come in handy when serving suggested podcasts to users. "YouTube's secret sauce is our recommendations," said YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie in a blog post. "They help people discover something new or go deeper on what they love, while helping podcasters reach new audiences only found on YouTube."

Aside from the typical features offered by YouTube, Voolich emphasized the changes that have been made to YouTube Music specifically for the benefit of podcasters and listeners. "We've rolled out several new features including support for third-party RSS podcasts, updates to the Android Auto experience for easy in-car listening, enhanced download options, and customizable playlist sorting," the blog post added.

However, the interview didn't address some of the major concerns that YouTube Music users have had with enjoying podcasts on the platform. There were few clear mentions of the platform's future plans, with the only notable one being that YouTube Music is not planning to support RSS out feeds anytime soon.

"Over the past year, we've been working to build in all of the traditional podcasting features to YouTube Music," Voolich said. "The first thing we did was actually just pull in podcast content, but then also traditional things like being able to play in a series, continue watching, [and] have a shelf for discovery."

There appears to still be a long way to go for YouTube Music. The platform still lacks essential podcast features, such as new episode notifications and mark-as-played indicators. Presumably, those features are coming, but this interview doesn't give us much in terms of a concrete roadmap as to when we can expect them.