The DSP War: Youtube Music Is The Perfect Streaming App No One Uses
Why do we think the future of music streaming could be more red than green: an honest review about Youtube Music app.
Looking at the huge pie slice Spotify takes as market share from the worldwide music streaming users (over 30%), we can hearty say that the Suede music giant has taken over the music world. Apple Music, its closest competitor, is half the size, while Youtube Music accounts for only 8%, way behind Spotify
source: Statista
Forced by the annoying pre-roll ads on almost every music video I was trying to watch on Youtube, I recently decided to go Premium. The subscription came with a Premium Youtube Music account, so I gave it a shot. 1 month later, my Spotify app lost quite a lot of screen time to Youtube Music. And here’s why 👇
Access to covers, bootlegs, vinyl rips and DJ sets
Thanks to the powerful Content ID feature, the youtube environment remained a paradise for creators, living in peace with the artists. Fancy a new cover from your favourite electronic music producer? You’ll find it in Youtube Music, while Content ID will do the heavy lifting in identifying and paying the copyright holders. Listening to music that’s available only on vinyl records? There’s a big chance someone has ripped the songs and uploaded them on youtube. A new mix surfacing online from your favourite DJ’s channel? Instant access through Youtube Music. Your favourite hip hop artists is testing the waters for his new single, releasing it on youtube to get some feedback from his fans? Well, you only need to check the Explore tab on Youtube Music to find something new, based on your listening habits.
Perfect(ish) integration with Youtube
As confusing as it gets having 2 apps (Youtube and Youtube Music) on my device that are basically doing almost the same thing, once you start using Youtube Music, you’ll get to loving it. Playlists are synchronised between these apps and even a song liked on Youtube Music will be available also in Youtube’s Liked Videos playlist. Also, the music videos are at just one tap away, as the app is seamlessly commuting from audio only mode to video mode
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Audio quality
While Spotify goes up to a 320kbps bitrate for its paid subscribers, Youtube Music only does 256kbps. You’re tempted to say that Spotify pleases our audiophile ears more than Youtube. Well, it depends: Spotify does a sound normalisation for all the songs uploaded on the platform, thus killing the natural dynamic range set by the mastering engineer. Good for having the same loudness level for all the songs in Spotify, bad for some frequency ranges that would get squashed to match every other song on the platform. Even with a lower bitrate, music on Youtube Music sounds richer and clearer, with a more clarity in the whole frequency spectrum.
A better recommendation engine
At least for me :) I am not really a fan of Discover Weekly or My Daily Mix algorithmic playlists on Spotify: I am a genre hopping listener and this is pretty confusing for the machines trying to nail my music profile. At the same time, the Radio playlists begin at some point to serve the same songs I got tired with. In a strange manner, Youtube does a better job for satisfying my hunger for new music (new music as in not listened before by me :D). The add-to-my-personal-playlists rate from youtube’s recommended music tab is way higher than in Spotify. Also, it does a better job at keeping me within the genre I am listening to at that moment. Speaking of which, the Trending Songs section is right on point for new music.
Less is more
Sure, I miss a lot of features and options from Spotify when using Youtube Music. For starters, there’s the neat artist page where you can find similar artists, playlists curated or recommended by the artists, playlists where he was discovered on a.s.o. Youtube also lacks all the sheer amount of editorial, edito-algo and 100% algorithmic playlists from Spotify. Not necessarily a bad thing: you’ll get a cleaner interface instead, less confusing and more immersive. At least from my point of view.
Spotify will continue to hold the king of DSPs crown for many years from now on. From the new artists’ perspective, Spotify offers a lot more chances to get their music listened by new listeners. The editorial playlists became the definition of breakthrough for them. Everybody is chasing monthly listeners and streams. Spotify’s app is offering all you can think of in terms of music diversity, curation and discovery. And there’s the massive playlist ecosystem I am forever hooked in. Hard, if not impossible, to beat Spotify!
But things are about to change. As Spotify starts to explore ways of keeping its users’ eyes on the screen through vids that resemble TikToks and YT Shorts, it will inherently add a more complex layer between music and listeners. Completely lacking social features means more focus on the music on one side, but less fun for the listeners, on the other side. The fame pays its price also: AI music is flooding the platform, while bots are getting better and better at tricking the algorithms into pushing forward computer generated music. I was on the Spotify echo chamber and it is pretty boring, to be honest. Youtube (Music) has a few ace cards up its sleeve. It’s the space where creators and musicians meet and collaborate. It has a way bigger volume of user data. It already has the tools and know how in generating AdMoney.
Time will tell which model will succeed. As far as we can tell, there’s a streaming revolution right around the corner, but we don’t know if it’s called Youtube Music.