As the Play Music library migration tool rolls out more widely in the past week, more and more people are discovering the limitations and pitfalls of uploaded songs on YouTube Music. While some are obvious—like YouTube Music sequestering abroad uploaded songs in an entirely separate surface area—there are others yous may only encounter with fourth dimension. While the characteristic has been alive for months now, many people are merely encountering YouTube Music'due south uploaded library characteristic in the past few days, and what you notice may not exactly thrill you. Here'southward everything you need to know about the drawbacks (and, occasionally, benefits) of YouTube Music'due south deject music storage feature.

Library management

Uploading

Google Play Music and YouTube Music both let you upload music by dragging and dropping files and folders onto their web interfaces. Play Music used to have a desktop helper and a Chrome app that looked for new audio files in a specified folder and uploaded these automatically, but the service has been feeling rather cleaved over the terminal few years for many people. We asked Google whether it would come for YouTube Music and were told that the developers "currently don't take any plans" to support information technology — don't hold your breath.

It'south probable that neither the Chrome app nor the desktop upload helper will come to YouTube Music.

Before you lot upload your files, you should also brand sure they're in a supported format: FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, or WMA. Google Play Music, in contrast, additionally supports M4Ps — DRM-protected AAC files. If YouTube Music runs into whatsoever issues during the upload process, information technology will send you an email stating as much, which I've never seen GPM do. It includes a listing of all files that haven't been added to it, then you can try uploading those again.

In dissimilarity to Google Play Music, YouTube Music uploads are a ane-fashion street. Once you've imported files, there's no way to download them through the website or the app. You'll have to employ Google Takeout to practice that. Google Play Music lets you download your files right through its website, though there'due south a limit of two downloads per title when you don't use the Play Music web app (which seems rather broken/deprecated).

Google Play Music has a pesky limit of x active devices that doesn't only include your mobile devices but also any desktop computer you've ever used for uploads and unlimited downloads of music. The corresponding settings folio says, "Uploading or downloading music using Music Manager or Google Play Music for Chrome counts towards your device limit." While the same limit applies to YouTube Music, it's non articulate if instances similar 3rd party desktop players count confronting your full number of devices.

On Play Music, y'all can upload a maximum of l,000 songs, though this has been raised to 100,000 for some people. YT Music ups this limit to 100,000 for everyone.

Access

If you're a premium subscriber, titles uploaded to Google Play Music behave merely like those available for streaming — when you search for an artist or an album, your own files volition popular up right between results from Google'southward library. If you upload music already available on the platform, Google volition try its all-time to friction match them to avoid showing duplicates (which information technology'south arguably not too skillful at).

Left: Search. Middle & Right: Library.

With YouTube Music, the situation is dissimilar. Uploaded music gets its own section in the app that's sealed off from audio available through the streaming service. When you search for music, you'll run across ii tabs: YT Music and Uploads. If you lot have a huge library of titles not available on the streaming service, you might find yourself swiping between these tabs constantly to find the music y'all're searching for.

This theme of separation continues in theLibrarysection. Whether y'all caput to Songs, albums, or artists,you'll run across the tabbed interface that segregates your uploads from the streaming service's titles you've added to your library. The but places where your files tin can live aslope YT Music's are the queue and playlists, including the automatic Liked songs drove.

Ultimately, this admission comparison comes downwardly to preference: Once you're aware of the differences, you could even end upwardly liking the new system more than Google Play Music's.

Free plan

Y'all can however add together your own files to both services even if you're not subscribed to Google's music streaming plan. On Play Music, you only have admission to uploads. You can too play music from Google'south library, but you're limited to starting mixes — you can't cull specific songs. YouTube Music, on the other hand, lets you choose which songs to play as long as the app is active and your display turned on. You'll also run into ads when yous listen to music other than your own.

Metadata

Google Play Music lets you lot edit your files' metadata afterward uploading, allowing you to correct a misspelled title or interpret. The feature is not supported by YouTube Music, and we don't know if information technology's planned at all. It would be a squeamish add-on, but don't hold your breath.

Third-political party access

Google Habitation

Play Music lets you play your uploaded files on Google Home only like whatsoever other song, by saying "Hey Google, play [desired title]." In dissimilarity to music bachelor via the streaming service, uploaded songs won't exist followed past an automated mix of similar titles, merely those are well-nigh all the disadvantages there are.

YouTube Music, on the other hand, doesn't allow you lot access your uploaded files via a Google Home voice command at all. Instead, it will play the video version if bachelor. The aforementioned happens when you lot try to play music through the Banana on your phone. You might not notice that almost of the time, but some music videos include longer non-music audio snippets, similar Michael Jackson's Thriller. You'll need to use the YouTube Music app's casting capabilities to play your own songs.

Android Automobile

Left & Center: YouTube Music on Android Car. Correct: Google Play Music.

On Android Auto, y'all tin can access your uploads just like you would in the app or on the website: Choose a category similar Albums then head to Uploads.There, you'll run across everything you've added to YT Music. That's however ameliorate than Google Play Music — its Android Auto interface only gives you admission toMusic for Drivingplaylists,Recent activeness,andplaylists.You tin can play other songs by asking the Assistant for the title, but in that location's no visual mode effectually your library.

Alarms

Left: Subscription necessary for alarms. Right: No results for my uploaded Rammstein album.

To utilize YouTube Music content for your alarms, yous need to subscribe to the service's premium program. Even when you exercise that, yous tin't use your own files for alarms at the moment — searching for my uploaded Rammstein album didn't return any results. We don't know if this feature will come up afterwards. Meanwhile, Play Music doesn't back up Android'south warning app at all, so it's something.

With most people using streaming services over building their own collection these days, it's not surprising that YouTube Music doesn't characteristic total-fledged uploading support. It would have been nice to see it, only the number of people using them probably doesn't justify the evolution work that would need to exist put behind it. Afterwards all, Spotify has never supported it and is withal widely successful. If you want a more Play Music-like experience, you lot could check out Apple Music or Deezer, though the latter only lets yous upload 2,000 songs. Apple tree Music is on-par with YouTube and allows y'all to store 100,000 files of your own. If you simply need access to music yous own, Plex could besides be another interesting solution.

Thanks: Jes, Webber, Eduardo, Karl Horky

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Manuel Vonau (1639 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's non writing articles for Android Police, he's probably out and about equally a videographer.

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