This is why everyone seems to be utilizing YouTube Music — even when they do not find it irresistible!

Not a few years in the past, if you happen to talked about YouTube Music in a room filled with long-time Google Play Music customers, you can most likely hear their collective sigh from area. Google retired its beloved service in 2020 and changed it with one thing that, on the time, felt underbaked to be a real music participant. Quick-forward to 2025, and whereas the groans haven’t fully died down, practically everybody we all know, together with our readers, is utilizing YouTube Music.

This revelation got here straight from an open dialogue we’re presently operating on Android Authority. With over 8,000 votes and counting, nearly all of respondents say that YouTube Music is their music streaming service of alternative, not Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or anything. YouTube Music has emerged because the king, albeit not probably the most elegant ruler, however a sensible one that individuals respect for its comfort.

It’s important to admit that making YouTube Music part of the YouTube Premium subscription was a genius transfer by Google. We positively anticipated some robust opinions after we requested our readers about their most well-liked streaming service, however what we didn’t anticipate was an amazing sample that emerged. Folks aren’t choosing YouTube Music due to its huge music library or algorithmic genius. They’re choosing it as a result of it makes probably the most sense economically.

“YT Music does all the things I would like and extra at an reasonably priced worth (which incorporates YouTube Premium),” remarked one other, in an extended record of feedback that echo the identical sentiments.

“Can’t beat the price of YTM when you’ve a household plan,” a reader mentioned.

Price-efficiency is among the high the explanation why individuals choose YouTube Music over different music streaming companies. Not solely does a YouTube Premium plan provide you with free entry to hundreds of thousands of YouTube Music songs ad-free, offline, and whereas your display screen is locked, however the YouTube Premium household plan is the true hook. For $22.99 per 30 days, you need to use YouTube Music with out adverts on as much as 5 accounts! That’s a troublesome one to beat for the likes of Spotify, which additionally presents a household plan, however one which doesn’t include a tasty aspect of YouTube Premium.

For a lot of YouTube Music customers, the journey started with Google Play Music’s compelled retirement, adopted by the chaotic migration to YouTube Music. Playlists had been moved, preferences had been ported (typically badly), and the brand new interface took a number of getting used to. Actually, some people by no means bought used to it in any respect. And but, they stayed. That’s as a result of years of their amassed music on Google Play Music moved to YouTube Music.

One in every of our readers mentioned, “I exploit it as a result of it’s the place all my music from Google Play Music went. I completely detest any algorithm for music. The overwhelming majority of what I hearken to is music I’ve purchased or the five hundred CDs I personal and uploaded to GPM.”

Clearly, when Google Play Music was migrated to YouTube Music, individuals didn’t simply wish to lose all their worthwhile collections painfully constructed over time, in order that they caught with YouTube Music and have been hanging on ever since.

A giant benefit YouTube Music has over most international streaming giants is the provision of regional, stay, obscure, and previous music. The streaming service decidedly excels at it.

Android Authority readers (together with yours actually) acknowledge how practically not possible it’s to search out particular stay music, covers, native songs, previous, forgotten tracks, and music from smaller international locations on Spotify or Apple Music. the place these songs nearly at all times do exist? YouTube Music.

“One space the place YouTube Music actually stands out is the sheer quantity of unique albums obtainable. My major curiosity is the unique rock period of 1964-1980. YouTube Music has just about each unique studio album from that period, by artists that matter,” mentioned a reader.

As a result of YouTube Music pulls immediately from YouTube’s huge video library, together with fan uploads, area of interest recordings, and regional hits, it turns into a treasure trove for indie music lovers. If somebody in your nation uploaded a remix of an previous basic? You’ll most likely discover it on YouTube Music.

“All of the companies have at the very least one factor the place they excel over others; it simply is determined by what worth you place on the differing options. In YTM’s case, it’s the flexibility to search out stay variations of tracks that I like probably the most. Different platforms will outperform it in different areas (similar to streaming high quality), however I place a excessive worth on listening to stay music, so it’s the most suitable choice for me (that, plus I already pay for YT Premium anyway),” famous one other reader.

That is the place the platform quietly wins hearts. Not with fancy suggestions or slick design, however with easy entry to stuff that truly issues to you.

So why aren’t individuals raving about YouTube Music?

Regardless of all this, only a few individuals declare to truly actually “love” YouTube Music. It’s not the darling of Reddit discussions. It doesn’t drop shock options that get headlines (except you’re into AI-generated playlists). Its suggestions algorithm, streaming high quality, and UI nonetheless spark debates. And sure, some erstwhile Google Play Music customers nonetheless really feel caught, with no different various.

In the event you’re a die-hard Spotify fan or an Apple Music lover, we get it. These platforms provide polish, intelligent integrations, higher connectivity, and nice customized suggestions. However YouTube Music is everyman’s streamer, and it’s solely getting higher. It’s the “eh, would possibly as nicely” possibility that simply so occurs to make sense financially, culturally, and virtually.