The days of enjoying the solid music experience that Google Play Music offers are numbered. Google has started shutting down the favorite music service and will continue to do so until everyone is done by the end of the year and put on YouTube Music. At that point, unless Google steps on the accelerator with feature add-ons, it will lack some of the functionality you may be accustomed to. Google will try and improve things, they say.
According to Ars TechnicaSpeaking to Google about the lack of matching features on YouTube Music, the company says they are currently “missing” certain features and that they are “working hard to address these feature holes and add extra functionality” “to their free user tier.
Google’s comment here was in response to concerns about the differences between the two platforms, including how uploaded music is handled on YouTube Music vs. Google Play Music. For example, those with a library they have uploaded from their own collections, Play Music has allowed them to be played offline or via Cast-enabled speakers. On YouTube Music, these two features require a paid monthly subscription. By forcing you away from that free experience and after a paid experience to get the same level of use, you can see how people can make their transfer.
However, that is not all. There are other missing or confusing items such as better control over music lists, song song editing, Android Auto support, and the awkward separation of content from the two platforms you may have noticed after transferring your Play Music collection. Google would not necessarily say when they can tackle all of these things, but it did recognize these missing items and could add them along the way.
I can tell you that we have a number of readers pointing out many of the items we just refer to and are concerned about a lesser experience on YouTube Music than the one they have known for years on Play Music. Many are looking for alternatives, even if there are no goods at the moment. Maybe they do not need to find one if Google can fully understand how many are affected.
// Ars Technica
