YouTube Music has rolled out a new feature to go toe-to-toe with its biggest rival, Spotify. The Google-owned subscription streaming service now has an automated playlist called "Discover Mix."
YouTube Music Begins 'Discover Mix' Roll Out
"Discover Mix" offers 49 songs that users may not have heard before but they might like. The concept is similar to Spotify's "Discover Weekly" which also curates songs based on user activity.
"Discover great music, picked just for you," the official description of the playlist reads (via 9 to 5 Google). "Updated every Wednesday."
Like other automated playlists, the songs included in the "Discover Mix" can be saved into users' libraries and can be downloaded for offline playback.
The "Discover Mix" playlist can be found on a new section called "Mixed for you" alongside another automated playlist titled "New Release Mix." "New Release Mix" itself is an homage to Spotify's "Release Radar" which compiles newly released songs from artists that users follow.
A Reddit user said that the tracks included in the "Discover Mix" were mostly songs that they have not heard before. Out of the 49 songs from the playlist, the user said that they added 32 to their library.
The "Discover Mix" has begun rolling out last week, but it is not yet available to all users as of this writing.
YouTube Music Surpasses 15 Million Paying Subscribers
In May, Google's paid music subscription service crossed 15 million subscribers, according to a report by Bloomberg. The milestone was achieved a year after Google rebranded the music streaming service alongside YouTube Premium.
For comparison, Spotify was the first music streaming service to reach 100 million paying customers. Meanwhile, Apple Music reportedly has 50 million paying users as of April 2019.
For $9.99 a month, YouTube Music subscribers can download songs for offline streaming, ad-free access to content, and enable music to be played in the background. A free tier with ads and limited access to features is also available.
In an attempt to catch up with its competitors, YouTube Music has previously partnered with music festivals to stream performances online. The first weekend of Coachella 2019 reportedly brought over 82 million live views to the platform.
