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YouTube Music has finally announced that it has enabled users to upload music to the cloud and their library. This move will surely help close the feature gap between YouTube Music and Play Music.
The long-awaited feature set started rolling out quietly last week and once enabled allows users to upload their own music files into the cloud. Users can use the new “Upload Music” menu to upload their own audio files to the cloud library.
You can find the new upload option on both the browser and app versions of the service. Available in full quality and listenable offline, Google allows FLAC, M4A, MP3, OGG, and WMA formats uploaded.
Google was generous enough to open the upload feature to both paying and non-paying users of the app. Adding a song or giving it a thumbs up/down will not have any impact on the algorithmic-based playlists. Casting uploaded music to other speakers is as easy as songs that are part of the service.
All users also get Premium features for uploaded music like: music plays in background, ad-free, and offline play. Potentially a good move for Google as it could lure potential additional paying subscribers after playing with the Premium features.
A big concern many people have with Google is privacy. Give a sigh of relief because it does seem that Google will not be scanning the audio files uploaded. They warn users to ensure they have the correct metadata and album art prior to uploading the song.
While not clear if editable after an upload, Google is not scanning the tracks and adding the info automatically. It would seem Google isn’t spying since hitting “like” on a song will not influence your playlists.
Play Music has been on the clock as Google has slowly, but steadily pushing it’s users toward YouTube Music. Named the default music app for Android 10, users just are not flocking the service as it’s missing features.
A portion of missing items users could classify them as “core features” that they had in the Play Music app. With how much Google has been pushing YouTube Music, perhaps it was better to wait for a more complete alternative.
The app is still missing key items users want. This is a huge advancement in the right direction and potentially push users over to the new app. At minimal, having cloud upload available to non-paying users may open the doors up to a brand new audience.