Recently, Google launched a new music service calledYouTube Music Key.
But wait, doesn’t Google already havea music service?
And Music Key makes it better.
Some people have been a bit confused over what Music Key is or why it exists.
If you sign up for Music Key, you get a Google Play All Access subscription included.
The good news is, it doesn’t matter if Google explains this in a weird way.
Let’s take a look at what’s new.
Most importantly, you don’t need to set up an account to watch.
Without Google having to do a thing, we made YouTube into one of the best music services around.
YouTube on mobile couldn’t do that before.
As soon as you leave the app or turn your screen off, the music stops.
Music Key allows you to enable this feature.
Notably, it’s unclear onwhichvideos these work on.
And some non-music videos were available for background listening or offline playback.
On top of these headlining features, YouTube has also added a new Music tab.
Here you might find suggestions for music or playlists you may enjoy.
The page is structured very similar to YouTube’s existing recommendation pages.
Whether this is enough to satisfy your discovery needs is up to personal preference.
This is handy, though it’s also a little clunky at the moment.
Hopefully this will get ironed out in the future.
That’s the only actual new feature you get with Music Key in Play Music.
Play Music changed that for me.
You just get the Music Key features as a bonus.
Is It Worth It?
Ultimately, Google wants to be your one-stop shop for all things music.
And its bases are pretty well covered.
Have a collection of MP3s you want to upload?
Prefer a subscription so you don’t have to manage files?
Do you share songs by sending people YouTube links?
By itself, Music Key probably won’t woo anyone.
But that’s just it.
Music Key doesn’t come by itself.
