How to Use YouTube Music

This article explains how to sign up for YouTube Music Premium, rate songs, and download tracks, and includes an overview of the benefits.

How to Sign up for YouTube Music Premium

YouTube Music Premium, and gives you ad-free viewing, downloads, and background play with regular YouTube videos, and it has a 30-day free trial. It's best to sign up via the YouTube Music website.

1. Open your preferred web browser and go to the YouTube Music website.

2. Click Try it Free.

   Click or save money with a family or student plan to see other options. Eligible students can get a discount. Family plans allow users to share their account with up to five others.

3. Enter your YouTube username or email address and choose Next. If you're already logged in, jump to Step 6.

   If you don't have a YouTube account yet, click Create account.

4. Enter your password and click Next.

   If you have phone login enabled, you will be prompted to open the Gmail app on your phone instead.

5. You should now be logged in and taken back to the main page. Click Try it Free once again.

6. Select your preferred payment method and click Buy.

   This will begin a 30-day free trial of YouTube Music Premium. You will be charged for the first time on the date displayed in the upper-left corner under Monthly charge.

Can I Write a YouTube Music Review?

Unlike regular YouTube videos on the main YouTube app, it’s not possible to leave comments or reviews on YouTube Music. You can, however, give music videos and songs a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down which can help Google curate more songs closer to your personal tastes.

1. Start playing a song on the YouTube Music app as per usual.

2. Tap the screen lightly to reveal a menu.

   If the menu doesn’t appear, this means that only the audio version is available.

3. Tap Video if you want to view the music video.

4. Tap the left or right thumb icons to up-vote or down-vote the music video or song.

How To Download Songs on YouTube Music

Both YouTube songs and music videos can be downloaded for offline consuming for anyone with an active YouTube Music Premium subscription.

1. Start listing to a song as you usually would.

2. Tap the ellipsis to the right of the song title.

3. Choose Download. Your download should immediately begin.

4. To access your downloaded song, return to the main screen.

   Downloaded songs and music videos are all accessible within the same location. 

5. Tap your avatar.

6. Tap Downloads > Downloaded Songs.

What's Included With YouTube Music?

YouTube Music is a Google-owned music streaming service that launched on the web, iOS, and Android in November 2015. The service is a combination of music-related videos from the main YouTube library and a variety of tracks, albums, and performances ranging from relaxing piano music to traditional Christmas songs and even musical parodies from popular YouTube creators.

Playlists and Recommendations

YouTube Music offers dynamic My Mix playlists, which are updated daily. They include a mix of old and new songs, based in part on your listening history. There's also a SuperMix playlist that pulls from all your musical tastes. Finally, you can also choose playlists based on your mood or activity preference, like workout and relax.

Is YouTube Music Free?

Much like YouTube, YouTube Music is also completely free to use, but there are a few restrictions for those not using the paid version, such as:

• Video and audio ads will occasionally play between songs.
• Songs can’t be downloaded for offline listening.
• Playback will stop when the app is minimized or the device goes to sleep.

To turn off ads, allow for playback when the app is minimized, and enable the ability to download YouTube songs and videos, you’ll need to sign up for the YouTube Music Premium monthly subscription service.

How Much is YouTube Music Premium?

YouTube Music Premium is $9.99 a month and will unlock the following benefits:

• Ad-free listening.
• Audio and video downloads.
• Background listening.