While Google Play Music is still alive and kicking, its days are probably numbered especially with this latest news from Google. YouTube Music is now preinstalled in all Android 10 devices as well as new smartphones that will have Android 9 out of the box. While you still have to subscribe to it and pay $10 to fully enjoy all of its perks, you can still use it as a music player if you prefer its interface over Google Play Music or your phone’s default music player.
The YouTube Music service is a music streaming service similar to Spotify, Pandora, etc. You can listen to songs, albums, and playlists, but since it’s also YouTube, you can use it to play music videos, live performances, and other music-related videos. If you’ve been using the main YouTube app to “listen” to music, your viewing histories will also be carried over to the YouTube Music app so it can understand your musical preferences.
But while the eventual demise of Google Play Music will not be a surprise when it happens, you can still enjoy using it to listen to music and to buy your music. But if you have a new device, this means you’ll have to download the app from the Google Play Store, unlike YouTube Music which will be there already for your convenience. If you don’t have an Android 10 device yet or if you’re not buying a new smartphone, you can still download YouTube Music from the Play Store anyway.
Aside from not being named after a dessert, Android 10 brings new features like the much-awaited system-wide Dark Theme, better Digital Wellbeing tools, suggested actions in Smart Reply, and other important features. It’s not exactly shaking anyone’s world right now but a major update is almost always welcome.
Now as to when we’ll actually say goodbye to Google Play Music, that is probably still far down the road. While a lot of its features are being migrated to YouTube Music already, the player itself is still not as perfect and seamless as some would expect. So for now, let’s see how the new default music player in Android 10 and new Android 9 devices will be received.
