The move could potentially help Google catch up with rivals in the music streaming space.
What you need to know
- The YouTube Music app will now come preinstalled on all new devices launching with Android 10 as well as Android 9 Pie.
- Google Play Music, however, will no longer come preinstalled on new Android devices.
- Those of you who use Google Play Music will need to manually install it from the Play Store on new Android 10 devices.
With an aim to popularize its YouTube Music service, Google has announced that the app will now come preinstalled on all new Android devices running Android 10 out of the box. YouTube Music will also be preinstalled on new devices that ship with Android 9 Pie.
Brandon Bilinski, Product Manager at YouTube Music, wrote in a blog post:
YouTube Music is your personal guide through the complete world of music—whether it’s a hot new song, hard to find gem, or an unmissable music video. Music fans on Android phones can now easily unlock the magic of YouTube Music, which will come installed on all new devices launching with Android 10 (and Android 9), including the Pixel series.
Google Play Music, on the other hand, will now have to be downloaded and installed from the Play Store manually on new Android 10 devices. This is certainly not surprising, as Google plans to replace Play Music with YouTube Music at some point in the future.
As per a Bloomberg report that came out in May this year, YouTube Music had 15 million subscribers a year after it was launched. In contrast, Spotify had over 100 million paying subscribers at the end of June. Apple Music is also significantly ahead of Google’s music service. It hit the 60 million paid subscribers mark in June.
YouTube Premium
With a subscription to YouTube Premium, you can not only enjoy ad-free videos and music but have them play in the background when your phone’s screen is locked. You can also download music and videos to watch offline and save your playlists on mobile devices.
