YouTube Music misses some notes Premium service not as “smart” as advertised.
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – YouTube is singing a new song, but oh, if only it was as smart as advertised.
We got our hands on the new YouTube Music Premium service, which debuted Tuesday morning in a “soft launch” and will slowly roll out to listeners in the next few weeks.
The pitch from YouTube-owner Google is a music streaming service that makes better recommendations for you because it knows more about you, from your online searches and YouTube viewing history.
But after spending two hours with the service (music.youtube.com or the YouTube Music app on iPhone or Android), I didn’t find the music mixes any smarter than rival Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Prime Unlimited. Perhaps YouTube Music will get smarter about me in the coming weeks, as I use it more.
YouTube Music is offered in two varieties, ad-supported or $9.99 for the ad-free version.
Some songs miss the mark
Open the home page and the first thing you notice is “A Station Built For You,” with “endless personalized music.” Your mixtape comes from artists you’ve listened to on YouTube. Then Google’s algorithm puts other similar artists together, as has been done by other streamers.
If you like the late rocker Tom Petty, who once did a duet with Stevie Nicks, then you probably like Nicks’ band Fleetwood Mac, and Petty’s short-lived side group, the Traveling Wilburys. And so on.
The YouTube mixes are a nice addition, but I wouldn’t rush to sign up for the service because of them. As with most online music, some of the songs were spot on, others not. And in the case of Petty, who I loved, YouTube seems to think he was my all-time favorite, which just isn’t the case.
The beauty of the mixtapes it that you can refresh the screen and get new ones. The bad news — every one consistently seemed to be weighted toward one or two performers.
In one, virtually every other song was by Petty. Other playlists continued like this — four each from Petty, Adele and the soundtrack of the movie La La Land, another had five each from the late bass player Ray Brown and singer John Legend.
You can remove their songs from the playlists, or better yet, YouTube says, search for other artists and play their music. That way, YouTube will learn who you like and use the information accordingly on future mixes. The mixes can also include live cuts.
That the mixes are initially kind of off-base is a surprise, considering YouTube’s recommendation engine, which is usually so good, musically. If I call up one of the acoustic, finger-style solo guitarists that I like, say Richard Smith or Tommy Emmanuel, YouTube typically recommends an endless mix of guitar tunes that rarely make me reach for the fast-forward button.
The beauty of YouTube vs. rivals such as Amazon and Spotify is that it has the largest music collection, by far, of any service. Besides albums, it also has live cuts, remixes, TV appearances and direct uploads. That’s why I’ve been a happy subscriber to Google Play Music since 2015, which came with a great bonus feature — the ability to play YouTube clips ad-free and in the background.
But that just changed.
Those bonus features do remain in place for current subscribers of Google Play (which is eventually going away), but new customers of You Tube Music will have to pay an extra $2 monthly to play clips from the main YouTube network ad-free and in the background.
A work in progress
I still love YouTube for the music mix that I get on the main YouTube channel. Few of my favorite guitar players have yet to show up in my YouTube Music created mixes, but I can live with it. It’s really easy to create playlists of them myself.
The bottom line: It’s opening day, and YouTube Music clearly is a work in progress. For listening to on-demand music, while also playing the videos you love from the YouTube library and the rich bonus material no one else has, YouTube can’t be beat.