Google’s Youtube Music is Preparing to Challenge Spotify

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Spotify and Apple Music are currently the go-to apps for anyone who is looking for a solid music streaming service. This has been the case for a number of years now. But things could soon change thanks to Google. The tech giant announced earlier this month that it is launching a new service called Youtube Music. This service replaces Google Play Music and is meant to be a direct competitor to Spotify and Apple Music. Not an easy task but Google believes it can pull it off.

Google started rolling out the service just a few days after the announcement was made. However, Youtube Music is currently only available in a handful of regions. These include the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Korea. Meanwhile, music lovers in the UK, Germany, Russia, Canada, France, Spain, and a few other countries can also expect to see the service in the near future. Google plans to add more countries to that list and launch Youtube Music worldwide sometime in the coming months.

Similar to its competitors, Youtube Music will come in two varieties. The service will feature a free version that relies on ads for revenue. Meanwhile, there’s also an ad-free premium version that comes with a price tag of $9.99 in the US. In addition, there’s also a third option known as Youtube Premium that costs $11.99. This is basically a rebranded version of Youtube Red that includes access to the music service. Along with a number of exclusive web series. There’s already a handful of good Youtube Originals series with more to be added in the near future. This package deal might be worth looking into. Keep an eye out for that.

Youtube Music vs the Competition

If you already use Spotify or Apple Music you might be inclined to completely ignore Google new’s service. That’s understandable. However, the company wants music lovers to reconsider. Google claims that Youtube Music can offer features that are not available on competing services. Primarily, the service will reportedly feature covers, remixes, and live versions of songs that can’t be found anywhere else.

Another important selling point is that Youtube Music uses Google’s AI. The company claims that the software can make better recommendations based on factors such as mood, genre, and even the activity you’re currently engaged in. In theory, this means that you should get vastly different types of recommendations when you’re at the gym as opposed to when you’re out shopping. Google is constantly improving its AI so this feature will likely also improve over time.

Youtube music is available both as a desktop player and as a mobile app. If you had a Google Play Music subscription before this change, your membership should automatically change to Youtube Music premium. Provided the service is already available in your region. If not, expect it to change when the service starts rolling out to your country.

Jason Moth

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