YouTube Music will launch free background listening starting in CanadaThe feature is coming November 3rd 
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
YouTube Music is lifting one of its most annoying limitations but only in Canada. Today, YouTube announced that beginning November 3rd, customers in Canada will be able to continue listening to their music in the background while doing other tasks on their phone or when the screen is off. Background listening will support both the standard ad-supported, personalized radio mixes and any uploaded content youve added to your account. This is the first time that YouTube Music has offered the feature without requiring that customers step up to a Premium subscription to get it. As for when listeners in other countries can expect to get the same convenience, for now, YouTube is only saying to stay tuned for additional information and expansion plans. Free background listening is table stakes among YouTube Musics competitors, including Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Tidal, and others, so this is an area where YouTube lags its rivals. Hopefully, that expansion will get underway sooner than later. Even if background playback comes to the free tier, YouTube Music Premium still has other benefits: offline downloads is the big one, but you also get to listen without any ads and seamlessly switch between regular audio and music videos. |
Comments
This is a shock. Something coming to Canada first. Maybe they do read comments section of nearly everything Google does of people bitching about whatever it is not being available in Canada.
By NothingUnknown on 10.04.21 10:16am
I dont really get why this wasnt a feature to begin with. This is a basic function that literally every music app has regardless of free or premium status.
By rdawo on 10.04.21 11:07am
YouTube Music gives you access to their entire streaming catalog on-demand for free. Spotify and others only let you listen to stations and playlists for free, while limiting skips for free users. The trade off was that YouTube didnt allow background play.
By backwithan808 on 10.04.21 11:29am
Its a business model, YouTube knows that you might find having videos playing to be distracting if youre just interested in music listening, and unless youre on WiFi, so youll be upcharged for data usage in the same manner as ads.
There is a "solution" to disabling videos if youre on Android, but not for iOS or PC. Another annoyance Ive encountered is that YouTube Music prioritizes a music video version rather than the audio-only version, which sometimes has unintended sounds or repeat TV spots at the end (in the case of Japanese music videos).
By FYL21 on 10.05.21 3:25am
Windows media player already does that in 1991.
By Andrewhahalee on 10.04.21 11:21am
I dont believe Apple Music has a free tier at all outside of their introductory trial. Has that changed?
By Trevozneoma on 10.04.21 1:23pm
I just use the Spotify Web player and use an adblocker so I basically have premium.
By ae101 on 10.04.21 1:38pm
Apple Music is a weird point of comparison because its paid only, but all the others dont actually let you pick your music on the free tier, which YTM did already. This new change puts its free tier far ahead of the competition given that you can now (in Canada) upload your own music, choose your own songs, and listen in the background.
By techlover99 on 10.04.21 2:14pm
Does this mean theyll finally stop pausing music videos after 30 or 40 minutes to ask if you wish to continue??
By bentley24 on 10.05.21 11:30am
I have found really great site for any music or sound fx downloading https://tunetank.com/
By Sergey Sevchukov on 11.07.21 11:29am