YouTube Music is Google’s music streaming service for songs, albums, music videos, live performances, covers, remixes and podcasts. It combines official artist releases with music-related content published across YouTube.

Recommendations are based on selected artists, likes and listening history. YouTube Music is available at no charge with advertising, while additional features are included with YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium.

Music and personalised recommendations

The Home screen changes according to listening activity, preferences, time of day and selected mood. Users can discover new releases or return to music already saved in their library.

Key features include:

• searches for songs, albums, artists, videos and podcasts;

• personalised mixes and radio stations;

• collections for workouts, relaxation, focus and travel;

• new-release and discovery playlists;

• global and regional charts;

• personal and collaborative playlists;

• a library for liked songs, albums and artists;

• lyrics for supported songs;

• playback queue controls;

• suggested tracks for expanding a playlist.

Unlike many traditional music services, the YouTube Music catalogue can include live performances, rare recordings, covers and remixes that are not part of standard album releases.

Listening with advertising

YouTube Music can be used without a paid membership. The ad-supported service offers on-demand playback of songs, music videos and podcasts, although music listening includes advertisements.

Background playback for music, listening with the screen turned off, music downloads and full audio-only playback are Premium benefits. Many podcast features remain available without a membership.

YouTube Music Premium features

A paid membership adds:

• music and videos without service-inserted advertising;

• background playback;

• music playback while the screen is off;

• downloads of songs, albums and playlists;

• automatic Smart Downloads;

• audio-only music playback;

• seamless switching between a song and its music video.

Downloaded music remains available offline for a limited period. The app must periodically connect to the internet to confirm the membership and refresh downloads.

Podcasts may still contain promotions or sponsorship messages inserted by their creators, even with Premium.

Your personal music library

Users can upload personal audio files through the YouTube Music website on a computer. Supported formats include MP3, FLAC, M4A, OGG and WMA.

Uploaded tracks can be played without ads, in the background and offline without a Premium membership. New files cannot be uploaded directly through the mobile app.

Supported devices

YouTube Music works on phones, tablets, computers, Wear OS watches, compatible televisions, speakers and car systems. It supports Android Auto and can integrate with Google Maps, Waze and Google voice assistants.

Feature, catalogue and membership availability varies by country, age, account type and device.

How to download and install YouTube Music

To download YouTube Music for Android, tap the download button on this page. Select “Install” or “Update” when Google Play opens.

After launching the app, sign in to a Google Account, select favourite artists and review the settings for history, mobile data, audio quality and downloads.