Google to Aggressively Improve YouTube Music
- Paul Thurrott
- Aug 02, 2018
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Google launched YouTube Music in May, and said that the service would eventually replace Google Play Music. But Google’s strategy is confusing, and each of its music services has some unique features that the other lacks. When will the firm consolidate these solutions into a single service?
That’s still not entirely clear. But in a discussion with Engadget, Google’s Elias Roman detailed how the firm plans to aggressively update YouTube Music on a regular schedule going forward.
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“There is still a ton of work to do,” he told the blog. “It’s a constant iteration.”
Here’s what we found out.
Google will release updates to its YouTube Music service and apps every two weeks. And it will add features and functionality that are missing from YouTube Music but present in Google Play Music or other services, and will do so partially based on customer requests.
Key among them:
- Allow customers to store music on an SD card or hard drive. This is a apparently a top request and is a feature that is “now rolling out to subscribers.”
- The ability to sort albums by something other than Recently Added.
- The ability to filter followed artists from followed YouTubers.
- The ability to configure audio quality settings for streaming and downloaded content.
One thing that Google is not focused on, however, is exclusives. And that is a decision I fully support.
“We are not focused on exclusives,” Roman said. “We don’t believe exclusives are good for the industry or good for consumers.”