YouTube Music rolls out TikTok-style 'Samples' feature: How it works
What's the story
YouTube Music introduced its Samples feature last year, and now it is showing up on the home screen. It is akin to viewing YouTube Shorts but within the realm of YouTube Music. This addition follows other social media platforms and video streaming services that have adopted the popular vertical scrolling interface. The Samples feature (or the TikTok-inspired feed) aims to provide users with a glimpse of music they might be missing out on based on their watch history.
Process
How to access Samples feature
To access Samples, users need to simply scroll down on their home screen until they find a horizontal feed. Tapping on it reveals a YouTube Shorts-like interface showcasing clips of music videos in portrait mode. Although these clips are cropped due to the landscape format of most music videos, they serve as a preview for users to discover new tunes. The selection of Samples is customized based on the user's watch history but might also feature some popular new music.
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Navigating and interacting
The Samples interface closely resembles YouTube Shorts, with a column of buttons on the right side of the screen. These buttons include Like, Add to Playlist, Share, and a Shorts button that directs users to the main YouTube app for related Shorts content. Additionally, there's a Play button that takes users to the full song on YouTube Music and a three-dot menu with more options such as Start Radio, Play Next, Add to Queue, Download, Go to Artist, and Report.
Insights
YouTube Music's growth amid controversies
Despite recent controversies surrounding ad blockers and price increases, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium have amassed over 100 million users combined, per the company. However, it is worth noting that this figure includes active free trials, meaning not all 100 million users are paying subscribers. The introduction of the Samples feature could potentially increase user engagement and attract more subscribers to the platform.