YouTube has announced that it will now offer free music streaming on Google Home speakers with YouTube Music.
Streaming via YouTube Music on your Google Home, Google Home Max, Google Home Mini, or Google Home Hub used to require a subscription to YouTube Music Premium for $9.99 / £9.99 / AU$11.99 per month.
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There's a catch though – the free service will be ad-supported, so you won't be able to listen to music uninterrupted without upgrading to a Premium subscription. This is similar to Spotify, which allows you to stream music for free in exchange for more limited features and in-app adverts.
Limited features
It's likely that the functionality of this free version of YouTube Music will be limited compared to the paid version. In a press release sent to TechRadar and other outlets, YouTube says the that Music Premium users can "request specific albums, songs, artists, and playlists on-demand" as well as "unlimited skips and song replay."
These features will probably be unavailable to people using the free version of YouTube Music with their Google Home speakers.
Even so, the ability to listen to music "right out-of-the-box" without signing up to a paid streaming platform subscription, will probably be a welcome addition to anyone who's thinking of buying a Google Home speaker.
You can also get a 30-day free trial of YouTube Music Premium if you want to try the additional features before you buy.
To set up YouTube Music as your default music streaming platform, you need to head to the Account Settings section of your Google Home app. Go to Services, and then Music, where you can select YouTube Music from a list of providers.
