YouTube Music
I don’t subscribe to more than one music service, but YouTube Music is catchy. The idea came from a WhatsApp group, where a friend has taken up the YouTube Premium subscription. This subscription service is new, and if anyone started using it, it becomes a talk. It does not seem to cost much. The ad-free YouTube Music is CA$9.99 per month, and if you add CA$2 more, you get YouTube Premium as well. That does not sound bad, considering I pay the same to Spotify.
I’m a Spotify user for many years and have no complaints. It is by far the most widely used music streaming service. It is available as a free app on almost every mobile device, TV, or any other AppStore.
Spotify is also available as a paid subscription for my two of the cars. For BMW, it’s available in the ConnectedDrive package. While Tesla doesn’t charge you for the app, they do charge for the in-car LTE internet service. I’m sure other car manufacturers also have similar options.
After some thought, I decided to give Youtube Premium a try. Now since I have the Youtube app, it was pretty easy for me to click the premium option, but here a catch. App pricing is different from web pricing and costs more. In-app, the combined YouTube and YouTube Music ad-free cost CA$15.99 per month, in which YouTube Music alone is CA$12.99. Whereas on the website, I see YouTube Music and YouTube Premium cost only CA$9.99 and CA$11.99, individually. So if you’re interested in giving it a try, use the browser/website to subscribe and not the app.
Experience
It’s been a few days since I am using the YouTube subscription. I have installed it on TV, the iPhone, and also on the iPad. The app has a different interface for each device, and I do like them, especially the interface on the iPad.
Youtube Music has some great features. I liked the one in which I can switch over to video while in a song. It does it without losing the playback position. It’s interesting.
Video or Audio?
Youtube Music gives you a choice to play music or video. If you prefer to play music every time, like me, then you can change it in settings. It might not make sense to see every video when you were listening to music. But if you’re curious about a song’s video, then the option is right there. It is unique with YouTube as Spotify or any other music service does not give users such a choice.
Spotify is very rich in its content, and if you talk about YouTube Music, is similar or more. You can find every song you can imagine on YouTube, which is pretty sweet. They do have some auto-generated playlist options, as we see in Spotify. YouTube music tracks what songs you are listening to and later present you with a mix. These features are much like Spotify. So there is some similarity in the interface and behaviour if you decide to switch.
Offline mixtape
Another noteworthy feature of YouTube Music Premium is the offline mixtape. I do not have to do much to make it work. I keep listing to songs I like, and YouTube makes a mix of it in a playlist. The offline mixtape, if turned on, download the mixed playlist. The mixtape is always a surprise as the songs keep changing per listening history. Whenever you’re out of network, you always have some songs in the downloaded library. The number of songs that you can download in offline mixtape ranges from one to a hundred. I like this idea a lot, as in this, I don’t have to think about songs I should download. There’s also an element of surprise. I love surprises, good ones.
Google Home Experience
YouTube Music also lets you cast the music on your favourite device, be it an Android TV, or Google home device. Switching from music to video and vice versa also works while casting. Now, I have not tried switching the audio song to video as a voice command. I’m going to try that, and I’ll let you know if it works.
Video download Choice
The quality of audio and video varies from low to high. There is also an option to set it per available bandwidth. While the choice is pretty standard, what’s not typical is the option to stream only on Wi-Fi. There’s also an option to store video, in SD or HD, with audio. The device storage is a premium that usually costs you either money of loss in performance. I do not think I would be downloading youtube video songs. Still, some parents, especially those with infants or toddlers, might appreciate it. The video is a useful distraction while feeding the kid when they are away from home.
When you switch from audio to video, the quality of the sound takes a hit. There’s a little bit of compromise if you watch a video versus if you listen to a song.
Youtube Music Interface
The interface has three tabs, home, hotlist and library. The home tab has several sections, and they keep on changing as you listen to music.
The hotlist tab shows you videos and music trending from YouTube. This tab keeps updating as it gets data from YouTube.
Thoughts
To summarize, the YouTube music and ad-free video subscription are good to try. I might keep it over Spotify due to similar cost and exclusive features and options. If you ask me the one best option, I vote for the video switch button. It lets me jump over to video without losing the playback position. Now Spotify does show you lyrics, but in my personal opinion, the video is better.
If you want to try, go directly to youtube.com/premium to the best deal. Do not subscribe to it over the mobile app. There’s no harm in getting the 30 days trial. Try it and don’t forget to tell me how you like it.