What’s the best way to get people to sign up for a subscription to your music streaming service? Well, some of the biggest names in the market today believe it is offering something for free. That’s what Spotify has been doing and that’s also what Amazon is reportedly working on. As for Google, they are now going to try it out too, at least for customers who have smart speakers. They will be offering free but ad-supported YouTube Music for anyone who has Google Home speakers or any Google Assistant-powered speakers.
If you have any smart speaker in your house or office that has Google Assistant built-in, you will be able to start streaming music from YouTube Music. Just say “Hey Google, play me some party music” or any mood or genre and it will be able to play a music station that has been customized for you according to your musical tastes.
Of course, you have to set YouTube Music as your default music player in your smart speaker. If you’re using a Google Home speaker, just head on over to the Account Settings in your app. Tap Services, go to the Music section and then choose YouTube Music as the default app. As for other speakers, go to their respective apps and look for the settings to set the default music service as well.
This free service, of course, has its limitations. You can’t play music on demand, you can only choose the mood or moment and it will choose a station. And there are ads in between some of the songs so it might ruin the mood every once in a while. So if you want a better music streaming experience, then you can upgrade to YouTube Music Premium for $9.99 a month. There’s also a free 30-day trial to new users.
But if you’re good with just having music stations and ads in between, then the free YouTube Music on your smart speaker is a good option for you. It’s only available in the following countries though: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, and Austria. They will be expanding to other countries soon.
