Google Home, which supports a wide variety of music streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, till now did not support the free version of YouTube Music. Now the Mountain View-based giant has announced that starting from 18 April, the company’s smart-speaker will start supporting the free version of YT Music.
Essentially, the free streaming tier means that you can listen to songs from the YouTube Music catalog, interspersed with occasional ads, on your Google Home or other Google Assistant-powered speaker right out of the box.
YouTube Music recently crossed three million downloads, within a week of its launch in the country.
In what was a surprise launch from Google, YouTube launched both YouTube Music, as well as, the company’s paid subscription service called YouTube Premium in India in March. The launch of the service happened right after streaming giant Spotify launched in India, stiffening competition for existing players which included the likes of Gaana and JioSaavn.
How to listen to YouTube Music for free:
You’ll first need to make YouTube Music your default music app. From there:
- Open the Google Home app and tap “account”
- Go to Settings > Services > Music
- Set YouTube Music as your preferred app (follow any on-screen setup instructions as necessary)
Once that’s done, you can start listening to music via “Hey, Google” voice commands to your device. You’ll have to be specific about the genre, mood, or station you want to play since the free version doesn’t allow for specific songs or albums to be played. If you decide you’d prefer that kind of functionality, the premium version of YouTube Music is available for $10 per month.