As the Play Music library migration tool rolls out more than widely in the by calendar week, more and more people are discovering the limitations and pitfalls of uploaded songs on YouTube Music. While some are obvious—similar YouTube Music sequestering away uploaded songs in an entirely separate area—in that location are others you may only encounter with time. While the feature has been live for months now, many people are but encountering YouTube Music's uploaded library feature in the past few days, and what you find may not exactly thrill you. Here'due south everything you lot need to know nearly the drawbacks (and, occasionally, benefits) of YouTube Music's cloud 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 binder and uploaded these automatically, but the service has been feeling rather cleaved over the last few years for many people. Nosotros asked Google whether it would come for YouTube Music and were told that the developers "currently don't have whatsoever plans" to support it — don't hold your breath.

Information technology'south likely that neither the Chrome app nor the desktop upload helper will come to YouTube Music.

Before yous upload your files, you should too make sure they're in a supported format: FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, or WMA. Google Play Music, in dissimilarity, additionally supports M4Ps — DRM-protected AAC files. If YouTube Music runs into any issues during the upload procedure, it will transport you lot an email stating equally much, which I've never seen GPM do. It includes a list of all files that haven't been added to it, so you can endeavor uploading those again.

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

Google Play Music has a pesky limit of ten agile devices that doesn't but include your mobile devices but also whatever desktop computer you've always used for uploads and unlimited downloads of music. The corresponding settings page 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'south not clear if instances like 3rd party desktop players count confronting your full number of devices.

On Play Music, you can upload a maximum of 50,000 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 conduct just like those available for streaming — when you search for an creative person or an album, your own files will popular up right between results from Google's library. If you upload music already available on the platform, Google will endeavour its best to match them to avoid showing duplicates (which it's arguably not too adept at).

Left: Search. Middle & Correct: Library.

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

This theme of separation continues in theLibrarysection. Whether you head to Songs, albums, or artists,you'll see the tabbed interface that segregates your uploads from the streaming service's titles you lot've added to your library. The only places where your files can live alongside YT Music's are the queue and playlists, including the automatic Liked songs collection.

Ultimately, this admission comparison comes downwards to preference: Once y'all're aware of the differences, you could even end upward liking the new system more than Google Play Music'south.

Free plan

You can still add together your own files to both services even if you're non subscribed to Google'due south music streaming plan. On Play Music, yous just have access to uploads. You can also play music from Google's library, but you lot're express to starting mixes — you tin't choose specific songs. YouTube Music, on the other mitt, lets you choose which songs to play equally long as the app is active and your display turned on. You'll also run into ads when yous heed to music other than your ain.

Metadata

Google Play Music lets you edit your files' metadata later on uploading, allowing you lot to correct a misspelled championship or translate. The feature is not supported by YouTube Music, and we don't know if it'southward planned at all. It would be a nice improver, but don't hold your breath.

Third-political party access

Google Domicile

Play Music lets you lot play your uploaded files on Google Home just like any other song, past proverb "Hey Google, play [desired title]." In contrast to music available via the streaming service, uploaded songs won't be followed by an automated mix of similar titles, just those are about all the disadvantages there are.

YouTube Music, on the other hand, doesn't let you access your uploaded files via a Google Home vocalisation control at all. Instead, it will play the video version if available. The same happens when you try to play music through the Assistant on your phone. You might not find that about of the fourth dimension, simply some music videos include longer non-music audio snippets, like Michael Jackson'southward Thriller. You'll need to use the YouTube Music app's casting capabilities to play your ain songs.

Android Machine

Left & Centre: YouTube Music on Android Automobile. Correct: Google Play Music.

On Android Automobile, you lot can access your uploads just like you would in the app or on the website: Choose a category similar Albums so head to Uploads.At that place, yous'll run across everything you've added to YT Music. That'south still meliorate than Google Play Music — its Android Machine interface merely gives you access toMusic for Drivingplaylists,Recent activity,andplaylists.You can play other songs by asking the Banana for the title, but there's no visual mode effectually your library.

Alarms

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

To apply YouTube Music content for your alarms, you lot need to subscribe to the service'southward premium plan. Fifty-fifty when you do that, yous can't utilise your own files for alarms at the moment — searching for my uploaded Rammstein album didn't return whatever results. We don't know if this feature will come after. Meanwhile, Play Music doesn't support Android's alarm app at all, so it'southward something.

With most people using streaming services over edifice their own collection these days, it'due south not surprising that YouTube Music doesn't feature total-fledged uploading support. It would have been nice to encounter it, but the number of people using them probably doesn't justify the development work that would need to be put behind information technology. Subsequently all, Spotify has never supported it and is nevertheless widely successful. If yous want a more Play Music-like experience, you could check out Apple Music or Deezer, though the latter merely lets you upload 2,000 songs. Apple Music is on-par with YouTube and allows you to store 100,000 files of your own. If you lot simply need admission to music yous own, Plex could also exist 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'south non writing articles for Android Constabulary, he's probably out and well-nigh as a videographer.

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