Everything you need to know about YouTube Music!

YouTube Music is here — and it’s packing the biggest music library in the world.

YouTube is one of the most-viewed websites on the planet, and by far the most popular video platform today, so it’s no surprise that millions upon millions of users turn to it every day for music. It’s the default platform for music videos — especially viral music videos like ME! and Old Town Road — and it’s also a place to find just about any song, remix, mashup, or fan cover you could ever want. Whether you’re looking for lyrics to a song before karaoke night, music to sleep to, or a new remix to play at your next party, YouTube has what you’re looking for.

With YouTube Music, YouTube is ready to dominate the streaming market with a music app built upon its video empire. YouTube Music has an app with a truly unique interface, an unparalleled content library, and more than a few kinks to work out, but YouTube Music is here to stay and here to compete.

Music reimagined

YouTube Music

Free or $10/month at YouTube

Google’s video-centric streaming service is worth a look.

Unlike Spotify, Apple Music, and other competitors, YouTube Music is a streaming platform that gives you easy access to official song audio and videos in one single place. It’s free to use, but paying for the Premium version gives you a much more powerful experience with a host of additional features.

Check out our full review

YouTube Music is built on a gold mine. YouTube is not only the most used video platform in the world; it might be the biggest catalog of professional, semi-professional, and amateur music available in the world.

Relaunched in May 2018 — the service originally debuted at the end of 2015, but it was a half-hearted experiment at the time — YouTube Music debuted with a variety of bugs and missing features that put an initial bad taste in some people’s mouths. Since then, however, Google’s continued to update and refine the service so that it can compete on the same playing field as the likes of Spotify.

YouTube Music still isn’t perfect, but it now deserves to be on your shortlist if you’re looking for a new streaming service to join.

Today, YouTube Music is where it should have been 18 months ago
YouTube Music 2018 review: A mixtape full of promise

The service starts at $9.99/month — but no one should pay that

There’s no real sugar-coating it: using YouTube Music as a free user on Android is bad. There are ads every three to six songs and you don’t get access to all of its features. YouTube Music is worlds better when you pony up for the paid tier, and YouTube Premium is absolutely worth paying for.

YouTube Music Premium, however, is not.

Confused? Let us explain ourselves. ?

For the love of Duarte, buy YouTube Premium instead of YouTube Music Premium

Where is YouTube Music available?

If you’re interested in checking out YouTube Music, the service is currently available in the following countries:

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
Oman
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Turks and Caicos Islands
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela

Getting started

YouTube Music is an adjustment from traditional music services — especially because it’s based around video as well as audio — but thanks to the Google’s search prowess and downright uncanny predictions and recommendations, getting used to Google’s music service should be as painless as possible.

There might be a few hurdles to get over if you’re coming to YouTube Music from something like Spotify or Apple Music, but by following our guides that are linked below, you should be up and running in no time at all.

What’s happening to Google Play Music? Where are my likes and playlists?

Before there was YouTube Music, we had Google Play Music. Play Music has continued to exist side-by-side with YouTube Music since the service’s big re-launch in 2018, but the end of the road is quickly approaching for Play Music.

Google plans to completely shut down the service for good at some point around the end of 2020, but before that happens, the company is giving users plenty of time to transfer their Play Music library over to YouTube Music.

Using the handy transfer tool now available in YouTube Music, you can transfer all of the following:

Music recommendations
Your playlists & many stations
Liked & disliked songs
Uploads & purchases
Albums & songs in your library

If you need help getting everything moved around, check out our step-by-step guide below ?.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music

How does it compare to other services?

YouTube Music is bringing a lot to the table, but it’s far from the only music streaming service in town.

Spotify has spent the last decade building up a loyal user base, building algorithms that few companies can even begin to touch, and building up a reputation as the best brand in streaming music. Amazon Music Unlimited isn’t quite as popular, but it offers excellent integration with Alexa and is a pretty good value for anyone that’s subscribed to Amazon Prime.

Here’s what happens when we pit YouTube Music against them head-to-head.