As if the transition from Google Play to YouTube Music did not need any more problems it turns out that you have to pay to play the songs you have purchased from Google. Arstechnica has shared their experiences of YouTube Music and they are not happy about this issue.
The upshot is that essentially if you have purchased music you have to pay a subscription to play that music. You will also have to pay to cast music onto any Google Cast device after Google Play Music shuts down. This comes after significant delays to the transferal process to YouTube Music.
It then surfaced that some users faced problems with their sidebar disappearing after transferring their library. So far the process has been a bit of a calamity and complaints such as this are really not what Google needs right now.
YouTube pushes users to pay in order to play purchased music
Arstechnica has pointed out that YouTube Music is effectively a music rental service and does not suit anyone who purchases music. The complaint stems from the idea that if you have purchased the music you should not have to pay to play it.
However, YouTube’s current position is that to play your music you have purchased you must pay their monthly subscription fee. This means that for those being forced to transfer over to YouTube Music, the platform is potentially a really bad fit for them.
The platform works well if you are happy to pay the subscription fee and then effectively rent music forever. However, for those that purchase song the service makes little sense. For example, those that enjoy more independent music not covered as extensively on YouTube Music the service is a bit bit.
Paying to play music you own on a speaker you bought
The biggest kick in the teeth for some users is that YouTube Music forces you to pay the subscription fee to cast onto Google Devices. This basically means that some users could find themselves in a position where they are unable to play songs they purchased on a speaker that they own with YouTube Music.
Google Play Music never did this and allowed casting without playing the subscription service. It also allowed users to purchase music and play it without paying a rental fee for the platform. The message some users feel they are being sent is that if they want to continue listening to music they paid for on speakers they own is to pay a fee.
Unsurprisingly this has made some quite angry. However, for now, it seems that Google is standing by the decision to require this monthly fee for the above features.
You could pair your devices with Bluetooth to get around the monthly fee. However, this removes functions such as voice control, multispeaker player back and limits the devices you can use.
Users have also pointed out that you cannot download uploaded songs from YouTube Music. This means you cannot download playlists unlike on Google Music without paying the subscription fee. This is especially a problem if you own the music in the first place and have transferred it to YouTube Music from Google Play.
The transition from Google Play to YouTube Music has been plagued with problems so far. Now it looks like a bit of cash grab to many users. Some would argue that the company is slowly eroding the trust of users with moves like this and it could cause them long term damage