Google announced a migration tool for taking your library from Google Play Music library of uploaded songs and getting them onto its new YouTube Music service back in May. Now, it's rapidly becoming more widely available beyond the globe. Information technology's not immediately intuitive what the tool volition and won't preserve, though, and the benefits and drawbacks of taking your deject music library over to Google's new music streaming platform. In this guide, we'll evidence you the ins and outs of the tool and everything you need to know about using information technology.

Before nosotros dive into the procedure, be warned that it might take a while until library migration is available to you. Since all of your data needs to be copied over, Google is probably fighting with limited server capacities, and then information technology'due south rolling out the tool in stages based on your location. You should run across a popup or toast in Google Play Music when it arrives on your account, and the company will send y'all an email.

Using the Android (or iOS) app

To go started with the migration, you lot need to install YouTube Music on your phone. Make sure it's at least version 3.65. If information technology's not available to you on the Play Shop just notwithstanding, you can get the latest version from APK Mirror.

Left & Middle: Switch banners. Correct: Transfer workflow.

If the tool has rolled out to you lot, you should see a message on the app'southward homescreen, telling you that Play Music is going away and that you tin can kickoff the migration. Tap the "Let's go" button and you're taken to a screen showing you in which guild your items will be moved over. If you're a Play Music subscriber, your subscription will as well be rolled over, and the price will remain the same — fifty-fifty if you're grandfathered in on the $7.99 plan or the family subscription. When you're set up to start, tap "Transfer." A banner will pop upwardly, telling you that the migration is in progress and that you lot can explore YouTube Music at present.

The tool will offset import your recommendations so you can start listening to personalized mixes on YouTube Music before the full transfer is finished. You can tap a banner below the top bar to see how far your migration has progressed.

You can start exploring YTM while the migration is in progress.

You lot'll receive a notification and an email once the transfer is finished, which can take a few minutes or multiple days depending on how many songs you've uploaded. When I fabricated the switch myself, I noticed that a few songs in some onetime Play Music playlists were nevertheless grayed out and unavailable afterward getting the notification, only that issue fixed itself after a few days.

Using the spider web app

If you lot'd rather use your computer to kick off the migration, caput to music.youtube.com/transfer. Like the app, this website shows y'all which data it'll transfer in which order. Click the "Transfer" button to get going. You can then explore the YouTube web app, and a imprint volition allow your return to the transfer overview and then you can run into your progress — the process is basically the same as in the Android app.

What if I continue using Play Music after the switch?

If you nonetheless continue using Play Music later on making the initial switch, don't worry: You tin can sync your libraries as often equally you desire to by clicking or tapping your profile picture in the top right corner and heading to settings, where you'll observe an option to kick off the migration tool again. That tin can be done both on the web and in the Android app.

Where are my uploads and stations?

YouTube Music organizes some things differently from Play Music. Your uploads sit down in a carve up section of the app, sealed away from the platform's streaming service attribute. When you browse your library or search results, you lot'll notice that at that place are 2 tabs at the meridian, 1 for YT Music and 1 for uploads. It's self-explanatory enough, but you need to be aware of it if you lot can't notice some of the albums you lot thought you'd uploaded. We've got a granular comparison of how YouTube Music handles uploads compared to Play Music.

Stations aren't a thing in YouTube Music, so information technology converts all of your stations to playlists. Their content is identical — the only departure is that you tin actually see all the individual songs within a playlist, which you couldn't with stations, at least without playing them. YouTube Music as well has curated and AI-generated playlists that replace things like Play Music's New Release Radio or the Feeling Lucky station.

I'thou missing some songs. What's up with that?

All of your uploads and purchases will be transferred, only since YouTube Music has different licensing deals than Play Music, yous might non find the same selection of songs every bit available on Play Music'due south streaming service. Google says these cases should be few and far between, and some songs that have disappeared from your Play Music library due to rights or licensing might even reappear in YouTube Music eventually.

Can I make the switch if I'm a free user?

Yes. YouTube Music lets you lot play your uploaded songs in the background, and yous can download them. Casting capability is express, though — every bit far as I tin can tell, you can't ask an Assistant-equipped speaker to play uploaded songs, so yous need to cast your music via the Android app.

In dissimilarity to Play Music, you can also access the streaming service of the platform for costless, only you'll have to endure ads, and you lot demand to exit your phone'southward screen turned on and the YouTube Music app in the foreground while you listen. The background limitation doesn't apply to the spider web app, though.

I already utilise YouTube Music. Will my library be overwritten?

That's the situation I constitute myself in, and as far as I can tell, no data got lost when I made the switch. Instead, your libraries will be combined intelligently. I uploaded a few albums to YouTube Music already in my Play Music library prior to the migration and there were no duplicates. A few identically titled playlists beyond the two services were retained as split lists, instead.

What near podcasts?

Some people utilise Play Music to listen to podcasts, only YouTube Music doesn't support that format. You lot tin can instead consign your episode progress and subscriptions to Google Podcasts. Once the migration tool has rolled out to y'all, you tin can head to podcasts.google.com/transfer to kick off the split transfer.

The podcast player is available on your Android phone as part of the Google app (just search for a podcast y'all're interested in), but you can likewise become a dedicated launcher icon from the Play Store if y'all prefer. There's also a spider web interface.

While some people might wish to take more granular command over which songs and playlists to transfer, the tool is every bit straightforward and easy to use as it can get, which was Google'south goal. The YouTube Music team knows that there are still some significant differences betwixt the two services, so it wanted to brand the transition as smooth and painless as possible.

If yous're interested in how such a switch pans out for someone who has used Play Music ever since it became bachelor, cheque out my editorial on my experience with YouTube Music (written before the migration tool rolled out).

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About The Author

Manuel Vonau (1637 Manufactures Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's not writing articles for Android Police, he's probably out and near every bit a videographer.

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