How to Use YouTube Music on Android

Last Updated: November 25, 2018 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to use YouTube Music on Android. YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by YouTube. It allows users to browse audio and music videos by song title, artists, albums, playlists and recommendations. YouTube Music is available for free from the Google Play Store, but it offers a paid subscription with ad free listening and other features.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:
Setting Up YouTube Music

1
Open the Google Play Store
. The Google Play Store is the app that has an image of a colorful 'play' triangle. This is the app you use to download new apps on Android devices.
2
Type YouTube Music in the search bar. The search bar is the white bar at the top of the Google Play Store app. The Search bar displays a list of apps that match what you type in the Search bar.

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3
Tap YouTube Music. It's in the list of apps that match your search. Tap "YouTube Music" as soon as you see it appear in the list to display the app download page.
4
Tap Install. It's the green button below the banner at the top of the YouTube Music download page in the Google Play Store. This downloads YouTube Music.
5
Open YouTube Music. You can open YouTube Music by tapping the icon on your homescreen or apps drawer, or by tapping Open in the Google Play Store after it is finished downloading. YouTube Music has an icon with a red circle with a white triangle inside a smaller white circle.
6
Tap Sign In. It's the blue button at the bottom of the YouTube Music title screen. This displays a list of Google accounts you are signed into on your Android device.
7
Select an account. Tap the email address you wish to use as your YouTube Music account. If you do not see the account you wish to use, tap Add account at the bottom and sign in with the email and password associated with a Google account.
- If you are asked if you wish to allow YouTube Music to access your locations, and allow notifications, tap Allow.
- If you are asked if you want to sign up for YouTube Music Premium, you can either accept a free trial of YouTube Music Premium, or tap Skip Free Trial to continue to use the free version of YouTube Music. If you wish to upgrade to the full version YouTube Premium, you can do so after your free trial.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 4:
Finding and Playing Music

1
Tap the Search
icon. The Search icon is the icon that resembles a magnifying glass in the upper-right corner. This displays a search bar that allows you to search for music by name.
2
Type the name of the music you want to find. The search bar is at the top of the screen. You can search for music by artists name, song time, genre, or album title. This displays a list of matching search results by artist, songs, albums, and videos.
3
Tap the Home tab. The Home tab is the first tab at the bottom of the page. It has an icon that resembles a house. This displays a list of recommended playlists based on your previous search results.
4
Tap the Hotlist tab. It's the second tab at the bottom of your screen This displays a list of the new and trending music.
5
Tap a song, video, artists, album, or playlist. When you tap a song or video, it will start playing immediately. Tapping the name of an artist, album, or playlists will display a list of songs from that artist, album, or playlist.
6
Tap Play, Shuffle, or Radio. "Play" and "Shuffle" are option at the top of albums and playlists. Tapping Play plays all the music from the album or playlist in the order they appear. Tapping Shuffle plays all music from an album, artist, or playlist in random order. "Radio" is available when you tap on the name of an artist. Tapping this option plays random music that is similar to the artist you searched for.
7
Tap the song bar. The song bar is the bar that has the artist and song title that displays at the bottom of the screen when a song is playing. Tapping this bar displays the artist, song title, album art, and playback controls in a full screen display.
8
Tap the Pause
button. The Pause button is the button with two vertical bars at the bottom-center. This stops the music playback.
9
Tap the play
button. The Play button is the large triangle button at the bottom center when a song is paused. This resumes the paused playback.
- The Play and pause buttons are also in the minimized song title bar.
10
Tap the Next
button. The Next button is the small button with a triangle and a vertical bar to the right. This button skips to the next song in the playlist or album.
11
Tap the Previous
button. The Previous button is the small button with a triangle and vertical bar to the left. This goes back to the last song in the album or playlist.

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Part 3

Part 3 of 4:
Creating a Radio

1
Tap the Search
icon. The Search icon is the icon that resembles a magnifying glass in the upper-right corner. This displays a search bar that allows you to search for music by name.
2
Type the name of an song, artist, genre, or playlist. The radio feature creates a random set of songs that is similar to another item in YouTube Music. You can create a radio based on an Artist, song, album, genre, or a playlist. Type a song, artist, playlist, or music genre that you would like to create a radio from.
3
Tap ⋮. It's the button with three vertical dots that appears to the right of songs, artists, albums, and playlists in search results. It's also below the artist, album, or playlist name when you tap an artist, album, or playlist. This displays a pop-up menu for the song, artist, album, or playlist.
4
Tap Start Radio. It's in the pop-up menu when you tap the button with three vertical dots. It's next to an icon that resembles a play triangle in between a set of radio waves. This plays the first song in the randomly created radio list. You can pause, play, skip songs, or like or dislike a song using the playback controls at the bottom of the song.

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Part 4

Part 4 of 4:
Using The Library

1
Tap the Search
icon. The Search icon is the icon that resembles a magnifying glass in the upper-right corner. This displays a search bar that allows you to search for music by name.
2
Search for the name of an artist. Use the steps in Part 2 to search for the name of an artist, singer, or band. When you search using the search icon, it displays a list of artists, albums, and song titles that match your search result. Tap the artist's name when you see it in the list of search results. Then tap the artists name under "Top Result" to display the artist's page.
3
Tap Subscribe. It's the red text under the artist's name on the artist's page. When you subscribe to an artist, they appear under the Artists list in the Library.
4
Tap the Back
button. The Back button is the arrow that points to the left in the upper-left corner. This goes back to the artist results page.
5
Tap an album. When you search for an artist, all their albums are listed under "Albums". Tap an album to view all the songs from that album.
6
Tap the + icon. The icon that resembles a plus (+) sign on a stack of papers is to the left of the album artwork at the top of the page. It's below the artist's name and album title. This adds the album to your library.
7
Play a song you like. Search for a song using the search icon, or by tapping a playlist in the Home, or Hotlist tab.
8
Tap the song bar. The song bar is the bar that has the artist name and song title at the bottom of the screen when a song is playing. This displays the artist, song title, album artwork, and playback controls in full screen.
9
Tap the thumbs up
icon. It's the icon on the right that resembles a hand pointing up. This adds a song to your list of liked songs in your Library.
10
Tap the Library tab. The Library tab has an icon that resembles a music note on a stack of papers. It's in the lower-right corner. This displays all the music you have added to your library.
- Tap "Playlists" to view the playlists you have created. Read "How To Make Playlists on YouTube Music on Android" to learn how to create playlists).
- Tap "Albums" to view the albums you have added to your library.
- Tap "Liked Songs" to view all the songs you have liked.
- Tap "Artists" to view artists you have subscribed to.
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