YouTube Music: what it is and how it works

Whenever you want to listen to some music you start on YouTube, to see the music videos of your favorite artists. What if I told you now that from now on you could make use of YouTube Music, a real music streaming service owned by Google itself? If you are curious to know more, keep reading: in this tutorial I want to explain to you in detail what is YouTube Music and how it works.

Let me start by telling you that YouTube Music is a solution dedicated to music streaming born as an evolution of Google Play Music and as a response to services such as Spotify and Apple Music: it allows you to listen to lots of music tracks via the Internet, but also view their videos thanks to the vast library YouTube. The service is basically free but has some additional paid features, such as listening to songs offline and in the background on mobile.

In the next chapters, I will provide you with all the information on how to use it from smartphones, tablets, and computers. Therefore, if you are interested in learning more, you just have to take a few minutes for yourself and immediately start focusing on what is reported in this guide. Eventually, you will see, you will have perfectly clear ideas about how YouTube Music works. Enjoy the reading!

YouTube Music: prices and compatible devices

YouTube Music: what it is and how it works ©Aranzulla

YouTube Music, as anticipated, is a music streaming service from Google. This is a solution that stands as an alternative to Spotify And Apple Music thus allowing you to play albums and playlists via the Internet connection or by downloading them for offline listening.

Unlike other streaming music services, YouTube Music also includes videos and all those containers that can be found exclusively on YouTube, such as remixes, live performances, and covers, as it relies on the database of the latter.

Having clarified this, it is good to specify that YouTube Music is available for free, but the reproduction of the songs is interspersed with advertisements. For uninterrupted listening, you can subscribe to the subscription, called Music Premium. The subscription, at the cost of € 9.99 / month after one 1 month free trial without renewal constraints, also includes other benefits, such as background playback on mobile devices and audio-only mode.

Alternatively, you can subscribe to the planned Family (€ 14.99 / month) which offers all the benefits of Music Premium and allows you to share your subscription with up to five family members resident in the same dwelling, or the floor Students (€ 4.99 / month). These plans also offer a 1-month free trial.

Note, then, the availability of YouTube Premium another YouTube paid home service that at the cost of 11.99 / month (with 1-month free trial) allows you to enjoy YouTube and YouTube Music without ads, in offline mode and with background playback (in practice, it also associates the advantages of YouTube Music with videos that do not concern the music sector).

As for compatible devices, it must be said that YouTube Music is usable from smartphones And Tablets as well as from computers. In the former case, you need to download the YouTube Music app available for Android and for iOS / iPad while from a computer the service can be used directly from the browser and with any operating system using the appropriate Web player.

Finally, it is imperative to have a Google account in order to access the service, and it is recommended to have one Internet connection sufficiently stable and fairly fast.

How to subscribe to YouTube Music

YouTube Music: what it is and how it works ©Aranzulla

Now that you understand what YouTube Music is and how it works, would you like to activate the free trial version, try the service for free for one month, and then take advantage of all the features included in the subscription? If so, follow the directions I am about to give you shortly.

To proceed from smartphone And Tabletthrough the YouTube Music app, presses the icon of your profile at the top right, and then tap on the item Upgrade to Music Premium.

Now, press the button One month free and complete the activation, adding a payment method between credit card, Paysafe card, or PayPal, by entering the required data in the appropriate fields that are indicated to you. Finally, confirm the operation by pressing the key Buy.

From PC instead, click on the icon your profile then click the entry Upgrade to Music Premiumpress the button Try it for free and enter all the data required to add a valid payment method (credit card, Paysafe Card, or PayPal). Finally, confirm the activation, using the button Buy.

How YouTube Music works

Now that you have a clear idea about it what is YouTube Music let’s try to understand how does it work both through the dedicated app for smartphones and tablets, and from a computer, using the Web player.

In the following lines, I will also show you how to download the content you are interested in listening to in offline mode. Also, below, I’ll explain how to disable the automatic renewal of the service you are not interested in continuing to use, after the free trial.

YouTube Music on Android / iOS

YouTube Music: what it is and how it works ©Aranzulla

Do you want to use YouTube Music from your smartphone or tablet Android or from iPhone or iPad? In this case, you will be happy to know that the app is very simple to use: once downloaded and launched, you will first be prompted to perform access to your Google account in order to have a profile in which to record your musical preferences.

Once this is done, on the main screen, you will automatically be offered various recommendations related to songs and playlists of the moment, which are divided into different sections, including Home, Explore, And Collection.

Alternatively, if you are looking for a particular song, you can use the button of the magnifying glass at the top right, which allows you to perform a targeted search, to locate the content of interest more quickly. To start multimedia playback, all you have to do is press on the title of a song.

Have you found a playlist or albums to play? Tap on them to view all the songs they include, and start playing them by pressing the button Play attached to the next screen.

When playback has started, you will be shown the YouTube Music player through which to manage multimedia playback, as well as to view, if available, the text and also the music video. However, to switch between the video to that audio and vice versa, you must have subscribed to Music Premium or you’ll have to be taking advantage of his free trial version.

If you are a user of Music Premium you also have the right to listen to the contents offline. To use them, just click on the icon (…) at the top right and then on the button Download. As for the download of albums and playlists, however, you have to press the button with the down arrow to the latter.

Once the download is complete, you will be able to see all the contents you have chosen to enable for offline listening by pressing First on the item Collection which is located at the bottom, and then on the wording Download. Easy, right?

YouTube Music on PC

YouTube Music: what it is and how it works ©Aranzulla

Are you interested in understanding how to use YouTube Music from a computer, using the dedicated Web player? I’ll explain it to you right away. First of all, connected to the latter from the browser you generally use to surf the net (eg. Chrome), carrying out access to your Google account on the first start.

Once this is done, you will find yourself in front of the main screen of the service, divided into sections Home, Explore, And Collection which, based on current trends, will show you some playback recommendations related to songs, playlists, and music albums.

Alternatively, you can use the icon of the magnifying glass at the top right, to search for a song to play, by typing the title or the first name of the artist. To put it into play, all you have to do is click on its title.

As for playing playlists and albums, you can start it right away by clicking on the button Play. If, on the other hand, you want to see which songs, precisely, make up a particular playlist or album, click on the cover of the element of your interest and then start the playlist by pressing the button Play.

You can manage all the songs being played using the player you see appearing at the bottom of the YouTube Music page and, if available, you will also be shown the relative music video and the text.

Finally, I remind you that you can stop playback and resume it or go forward or backward between songs using the classic playback buttons attached to the player. You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?

How to disable YouTube Music

YouTube Music: what it is and how it works ©Aranzulla

You have activated the free trial of Music Premium, but then you have thought about it and would like to understand how to deactivate the automatic renewal, to prevent the paid subscription from being activated? Don’t worry, now I’ll explain how to act.

To disable the service fromYouTube Music app press on your profile picture at the top right, then tap on the item Paid subscriptions and press on the wording that refers to subscription or to free trial version.

Once this is done, click on the button Deactivate that you find next to your subscription and then on the item Continue to cancel the menu that is shown to you.

To succeed from PC instead, connect to YouTube Music and click on your profile top right. Once this is done, click on the item Paid subscriptions. Then tap on the item Manage subscription and press the button Deactivate. Now, confirm the operation by pressing on the item Continue to cancel.

Finally, I remind you that, even if you cancel your subscription to the service, you can still continue to take advantage of all the benefits of the subscription (or free trial) you activated until the trial or billing period ends.