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YouTube Music offers many features that might already have you hooked to its wide catalog. But with streaming services, there is always room for improvement and features that add color to your listening experience.
The Best of YouTube Music
Some of my favorite elements about YouTube Music include its responsive grid design, the ability to download songs, the option to view "related" songs while your current session is happening, and samples.
It provides good integration with a range of devices, such as smartwatches, smart TVs, and smart displays. The web and mobile app can be used with your preferred devices. If you have a YouTube Premium membership, you can also use YouTube Music on Apple's CarPlay, the Waze app, Android Auto, and more.
That being said, YouTube Music is still missing some vital features. Here's a look at what could be introduced to level up this music streaming app's offerings.
A Better Way to Sort Your Library
One of my biggest qualms with YouTube Music is the way its library is structured. While the library itself is easy to use, it lacks a neat way to organize songs. Your options for sorting and cleaning up your music library are very limited: something as simple as the ability to pin songs at the top of your library would be a great starting point.
Most mainstream music streaming apps, such as Apple Music and Spotify, give you the choice to sort your music library by criteria like title, artist, composer, and when you added songs to your liked songs list. However, YouTube Music is missing this essential feature and the opportunity to gain a competitive edge over its counterparts by introducing more ways to tidy your music library.
Some sorting options that could be introduced include genres, recently played, and in YouTube Music's case, options to sort songs by app. I would love to see a library that gives me an easier way to filter out songs that I listened to on the YouTube app while watching videos.
Although you can currently adjust this by going to your profile > Settings > Playback & Restrictions > Show Your Liked Music From YouTube and switching it off, direct differentiation inside the music library could prove to be very convenient for switching up your music sessions.
Live Music
While having a dedicated radio tab is not something you might be insistent on, there is still room for some form of live music on this app. Live music could see the form of around-the-clock streams or stations of relaxing music, for instance, which is a popular video format seen on YouTube.
Lo-fi format playlists are another example since these live playlists are pretty common to spot on YouTube. Streaming 24/7 live music on YouTube Music could scrap the need to play a static video just to listen to relaxing beats and tunes.
Along these lines, YouTube Music could also feature artist stations that run throughout the day. Artist spotlight playlists are always a great option for music streaming apps to bank on.
Audio Customization Options
YouTube Music has a serious lack of in-app audio customization options. This could include equalizer (EQ) options for an elevated listening experience, crossfade adjustments, and audio normalization. These are some top essential features that YouTube Music needs, but apart from these, I would also love to see something fresh like ambient sounds to add an extra layer of sounds that can seamlessly mix with what is already playing. This would look something like Background Sounds on iOS, with options like rain, stream, ocean waves, or plain old white noise.
Another audio customization option, popularized through YouTube videos, is surround sound. This is dynamic audio which is a step further from spatial audio, that gives you the feel of music surrounding you from all directions, not just from your left and right sides. Surround audio, also seen in "3D audio" YouTube videos, could prove very useful in upping YouTube Music's audio game since you cannot adjust or control spatial audio settings in the app.
A Karaoke Tab
YouTube Music lets you view and follow the lyrics as a song plays, although lyrics are not available for all songs. One feature that you might be looking for is a karaoke mode, similar to Apple Music Sing.
I have had many instances where I have pulled up songs that are only available on YouTube to use for karaoke and have not had a great experience keeping up with lyrics in a follow-along video format. Introducing a karaoke mode or tab on YouTube Music could truly be a game changer for you if you are a big fan of singing along to your favorite music.
A virtual, in-built karaoke mode or tab, complete with collaborative options that let you sing along with friends, would be an absolute win of a feature for YouTube Music. This would add to the app's collaboration features while being a unique addition to YouTube Music's exclusive features.
A Better Way to Use Playlists
With YouTube Music's shuffle and playlist, the app could use some "smart" options, just like its "Smart Downloads" offering. Customized playlists curated according to your listening activity and an interactive and customizable playlist layout with fun elements like widgets and color coding could go a long way toward making your music and library as personal as possible.
I would also love to see in-app analysis snippets of my playlist and song listening formatted to highlight my top artists and genres. This could even spill into music moods, which could include mood-based or activity-based playlists.
While I do not expect a QR code or link for every song, a unique code or key (which could be personalized) generated for every playlist could be another great addition to YouTube Music's collaboration features.
You can access YouTube Music for free, but a Premium Subscription gives you access to music offline, the ability to play music in the background while using other apps, and listen to audio without video. A YouTube Music Premium costs $10.99/month for an individual user or $14.99/month for a family plan, letting you add up to five members (above the age of 13).
Another alternative is to get a YouTube Premium subscription, which also gives you free access to YouTube Music.