YouTube Music

The YouTube Music app was unveiled in October 2015 and released the following month; its release came alongside the unveiling of YouTube Premium (originally called YouTube Red), a larger subscription service that covers the entirety of the YouTube platform, including the Music app. Although redundant to Google's existing Google Play Music All Access subscription service, the app was designed for users who primarily consume music through YouTube. In 2018, YouTube Music reached multiple sponsorship agreements with Dick Clark Productions to serve as a partner for its television specials ''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' and the American Music Awards. YouTube Music became available on Google Assistant smart speakers (including Google Nest smart speakers) on April 18, 2019, with feature-limited ad-supported playback available for non-subscribers in only a limited number of countries. In July 2024, YouTube Music became available for Tesla cars. ==Features==

The availability of music encompasses numerous releases from mainstream artists and extends to any video categorized as music on the YouTube platform. YouTube Music initially operated in parallel with Google Play Music, but the latter was shut down in December 2020. Product manager Elias Roman stated in 2018 that they aimed to reach feature parity with Google Play Music before migrating users to it, but as of 2024 this has not been achieved. In September 2019, YouTube Music replaced Google Play Music in the core Google Mobile Services bundle distributed on new Android devices. In May 2020, an update was released to allow imports from Google Play Music, including purchased music, playlists, cloud libraries, and recommendations. A "pre-save" feature for upcoming releases was added in May 2020. In 2021, YouTube Music introduced a seasonal recap feature, which serves as a culmination of a user's top artists, songs, albums and playlists, in a similar style to Spotify Wrapped. In February 2023, YouTube Music launched Radio Builder, a free and from anywhere accessible web service for both paying subscribers and free users with iOS or Android devices. It allows users to create a custom radio station, selecting up to 30 artists with an option to hear only their songs or from comparable musicians. In April 2023, podcasts were added to the service, initially for users in the US only with a worldwide rollout planned at a later date. Google Podcasts was shut down worldwide in June 2024 with YouTube Music replacing it. Subscriptions The free tier plays songs in its music video version where applicable. The premium tier plays official tracks of the album unless the user searches for the music video version. YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium subscribers can switch to an audio-only mode that can play in the background while the application is not in use. The free tier does not allow audio-only mode with background playback as it displays video advertisements. The free tier's audio quality supports up to 128 kbit/s, in AAC and Opus audio formats. When on premium, you have access to 256 kbit/s. YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium plans are available in individual and family variants. A family plan allows up to six family members from the same household to access plan features. Eligible students can obtain a discount on an individual plan. ==Geographic availability==

As of March 2024, YouTube Music is available in most of the Americas, Europe and Oceania, as well as parts of Africa and Asia, with a total availability in 119 markets. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Google indefinitely suspended all of its all payment and subscription-based services in the country, including YouTube Music. ==See also==