Today we’re gonna be reviewing the YouTube Music App.
YouTube music is a musical streaming platform meant to rival the likes of an Apple Music, Spotify or Amazon Music. I’d say it’s designed for people like myself that can appreciate brand consistency and creative differentiation.
If you’re like a majority of the YouTube Users that will go straight to the platform to play music, you’re gonna know the difference in service when you go to Youtube Music. You have more categories and playlists that are tailored particularly to your musical states. It’s mixed in with your normal YouTube account, so it’s integrated for what I would believe is better.
One of the noticeable differences that I’ve between the free version and music premium versions are its ability to continue playing your music selections in the background. So what that means is you can leave the app and have your song play in the background without it being interrupted. Now that’s very similar to what you get from YouTube Red.
You might even ask yourself why would I pay for Music Premium if I could get Red for a similar price and have any video play? I say it’s more of a preference in organizational direction. If you’re consciously focused on musical growth, I’d highly recommend you just investing in this specific section of YouTube.
The key features are one of the things that’s a major high point of the YouTube Music Premium option. We mentioned briefly about the personalized recommendations, playlists, and smart downloads.
But again, looking at this through the lens of someone that really appreciates music as a craft, and possibly has plans of building a career around it, you are going to gravitate towards more of the recommendations that the biggest video search engine in the world can provide.
Most music videos blow up through the YouTube platform. So having access to YouTube music (which will also give you ad-free music) is just a convenient perk that’s really worth the monthly fee of what it costs. The lyrics that they provide under each song that you’re listening to as well, it mirrors the Apple Music and Spotify route as well.
So you really don’t feel as if you’re missing anything. It’s just as competitive, and includes all the different features that’s at least on par with what the standard already is. And looking at the overall user experience, it’s pretty easy to navigate.
The only issue that I have personally with, is the fact that sometimes the search bar area and extra settings area that you would be looking to navigate can sometimes get glitched in a way where you’re not able to press the magnifying glass in order to create your search or whatever it is that is a little more customized that you’re trying to achieve.
This is all in the main hub area too by the way.
Other than that, the discovery of music actually happens pretty organically. It puts a lot of different songs in rotation that’s very similar to what your main preferences are.
And if you’re someone like me, you can appreciate finally finding a platform that can add more to your musical palette besides the same dozen songs (or whatever amount that you will continually play over and over again) because there’s not much shame in your game.
And when we also look at the audio quality, it seems pretty average. There doesn’t seem to be anything where I notice anything significantly different than what you usually would get from any type of streaming platform, but the streaming performance itself is something that works pretty well too.
I don’t find it having many moments where it has to buffer until it plays.
If I had to have a complete comparison to Spotify and Apple Music, for example, I would definitely have it top two. It is not 3rd by any means. It’s one of the 2. I’d even give it 1st place, just considering that my Allegiance, digitally, is with YouTube and Google owned subsidiaries.
So everything that can complement what my initial platform that I cater to will hold a top rank in my heart. So I also mentioned about how hip hop and rap are some of my favorite genres of all time. And when I compare to how well it works with the YouTube music platform, it is incredible.
It doesn’t miss (or replay) on a session of listening. I get that from the other platforms as well too, but again, I just feel a lot of the music that Youtube Music suggests and put in front of me ends up being something that I might not have even known, but it is definitely something I will play. It seems to just get me really well.
I almost feel as if it listens on conversation the same way how we would notice ads that would pop up on some social platforms. You just take into account how there’s remixes, live performance, and even exclusive tracks that you will get on the YouTube music platform over anything else.
I wouldn’t recommend leaks per se, but there are things like Concept songs and Unmastered tracks that are actually referenced by the artists themselves you’re able to access on the YouTube music platform. And that’s because it’s already on YouTube legally and ethically.
So I even have a guilt free approach to the way I listen to a lot of songs that I can guarantee won’t be available on other platforms. So that ends up being another great win too. If I think about some of the biggest advantages of the platform though, it would likely just go with something real simple.
I don’t ask a lot of it, but one device that I get a lot of go out of is my Google Nest device. And how this works is where you do a bunch of casting, and that’s one thing that the YouTube music platform has is that over Apple.
You can do that with Spotify as well and even SoundCloud, but since I already hold Apple and YouTube as my top two, that would just take it over the top, and there’s a difference when you cast your music over just connecting to a Bluetooth and playing it. And if I look at the drawbacks or limitations that would probably be shared is maybe the fact that it freezes up sometimes on those casts.
So in the same breath of mentioning that I like the fact that it can cast, when you’re playing music (and even composing playlists or anything along those lines) you can sometimes get in the case where the music will play through the cast. or the casting device, but it will get to where the phone or whatever device you are that are casting, that is casting the YouTube music songs will be frozen on that to where you will not be able to keep up with the thing that’s playing.
It just ends up being a inaccurate reading of what you’re currently listening to and it can just be a headache if you are someone that’s really… particular about the way that you enjoy your device. And when I look at the pricing, it’s fair.
I believe it’s under $15 and for the value, I think that’s fair for any streaming platform because when you look at all the albums, whether they’re new, old, or anything that’s just an abundance of music, that was the same price that you would have to pay for a single CD.
So to only have to spend $15 maybe at most for these streaming platforms, including the YouTube music, it ends up being something that just feels definitely worth whatever it is that you pay for.
However, the only issue I would have with that, again, is the fact that just because you get YouTube, music, premium, that does not automatically give you the YouTube. premium itself, the YouTube red, I believe is what they call it. And… that is at, can be, uh, blessing or a curse.
I typically views it, view it as a blessing because it allows me again to make sure that if I am in the YouTube Music act, it is either to listen to music or a podcast, something that is very specific because there’s plenty of other videos that you can find on YouTube that aren’t either the 2 and then you end up wasting a bunch of time or just putting a lot of focus on something that you weren’t planning on in the 1st place.
And again, if you are someone that is a YouTube user and Find yourself on the app daily. With music being one of the main things that you are going through, whether it’s music videos or just the songs themselves, then this is going to be the app for you.
And if you are someone that is just exclusively music and you don’t find yourself as much on YouTube, you might want to consider going somewhere else. You might have too many frustrations to where you don’t appreciate everything that the app does or you think that another app does it better.
There’s plenty of people that like their Spotify and I am someone actually that got converted from Apple Music myself. So just as I started acquiring more devices, I just see how compatible it is. And it’s a major game changing influence on this decision is the fact that I run a business. And it is very reliant on YouTube and Google.
So having YouTube music, especially for a music brand, is just everything that makes sense. So my final verdict on if YouTube music is worth it is an absolutely yes. I’ll give it a 4 stars out of five. It just rings the bell on every door that I’m knocking at when I’m trying to consider my music.
That doesn’t mean that it is absolutely flawless, but it does so much to where I am grateful and find myself on this app every day. I don’t think I been on it. or been without it for any period of time. And this is after going on a year for having this app.
