Is there an audio-only option for YouTube?
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim as a video sharing platform. Since its inception, YouTube has focused primarily on serving as a hub for users to watch, upload, and share video content across the internet. The site rose to popularity in its early years for this straightforward video hosting function, establishing itself as one of the first and largest platforms for internet video.
YouTube’s Focus on Video
YouTube was founded in 2005 as a video sharing platform, allowing users to upload, view, rate, share, and comment on videos. The focus was always on the visual video medium rather than purely audio. As founder Steve Chen stated, “We wanted to have a video community site where everyone could upload their videos and everyone could watch them in one central area” (Comparing The Top Online Video Platforms). YouTube took advantage of advancing internet speeds and allowed video sharing at scales not possible before.
YouTube rapidly grew to become the world’s largest and most popular online video platform. By 2021, over 500 hours of video content was being uploaded every minute and over 1 billion hours of videos were watched daily (18 Best Online Video Platforms for All Creators 2024). While YouTube has added many features over the years, video remains the core focus.
Demand for Audio-Only Options
In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the popularity of podcasts and other audio content. According to SingleGrain, the number of monthly podcast listeners has grown steadily, reaching over 100 million in the US alone by 2022. This demand is driven by the convenience and engagement of audio, allowing people to listen while doing other tasks. The podcast industry is expected to grow to over $3 billion by 2024.
This explosion in audio content is also reflected in the number of new podcasts being created. According to Zemp Media, over 885,000 podcasts were available in 2020, more than double the number from just 3 years prior. As audio content grows, so does the demand for audio-only experiences on platforms like YouTube.
YouTube Music Key
In November 2014, YouTube launched an audio-only subscription service called YouTube Music Key in beta (https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2015/04/09/google-lays-the-groundwork-for-its-youtube-music-key-launch/). For $9.99/month, users could stream and download music from YouTube ad-free and with the screen off. This provided an audio-only experience similar to music streaming services like Spotify.
YouTube Music Key also included an ad-free YouTube video experience. However, the main selling point was the ability to listen to audio-only content from YouTube. This allowed YouTube to better compete in the music streaming market dominated by services designed just for audio.
Discontinuation of YouTube Music Key
In October 2015, YouTube announced that its YouTube Music Key beta service would be discontinued in November 2015 after just over a year in operation. YouTube sent an email to Music Key beta subscribers informing them of the shutdown (Source 1).
YouTube Music Key launched in beta in late 2014 as an ad-free music streaming service, allowing users to play audio-only YouTube music content. It cost $9.99 per month. However, after just one year, YouTube discontinued Music Key in favor of focusing on YouTube Red, its new premium subscription service (Source 2).
The shutdown of Music Key left many users disappointed, especially those outside the US where YouTube Red was not yet available (Source 3). However, YouTube wanted to consolidate its premium offerings under YouTube Red. This meant Music Key, despite initially promising an audio-only YouTube experience, would be short-lived.
Current Audio-Only Options
While YouTube discontinued their official audio-only mode, there are still a few ways to access audio-only content on the platform:
Background Play – On mobile, you can minimize the YouTube app while a video plays in the background. This allows you to listen to the audio while doing other tasks on your phone. However, the video stream will continue using data in the background (source).
Minimize Video – On desktop and mobile, you can shrink the video window down to just show the audio controls. This stops the video stream while still playing the audio. You can browse other content while listening (source).
Downloads – YouTube Premium subscribers can download videos for offline playback. This includes audio-only downloads for music tracks and podcasts. Downloads allow listening without streaming data (source).
While helpful, these options are limited compared to a fully dedicated audio-only mode. Users must subscribe, minimize the video player, or maintain video streams in the background to achieve audio-only listening.
Limited Ad-Free Experience
YouTube operates on an ad-supported model, where most videos on their platform will feature advertisements unless you pay for a YouTube Premium subscription. According to a report by 9to5Google (https://9to5google.com/2020/11/18/youtube-to-add-audio-only-ads-when-listening-to-music-podcasts-in-background/), YouTube has begun inserting 15-second audio ads into music and podcast content when listening in the background without Premium. This presents challenges for users wanting an ad-free audio experience.
Without a paid YouTube Premium account, users will encounter audio ads interrupting their music and podcasts. The frequency of these audio ads may increase over time as YouTube expands its audio ad program. Users without Premium may find the intermittent ad interruptions disruptive and annoying. This could prompt more users to subscribe to YouTube Premium for an uninterrupted listening experience.
User Workarounds
Since YouTube does not officially offer an audio-only mode, users have come up with some clever workarounds. One popular method is using browser extensions that allow playing YouTube videos without loading the video stream. For example, the Audio Only YouTube Chrome extension enables listening to YouTube audio only by disabling just the video playback. There are similar extensions for Firefox and other major browsers.
In addition to browser extensions, there are also dedicated third party apps that provide an audio-only YouTube experience. These apps typically download just the audio track of YouTube videos which users can then listen to like a podcast episode. While not official YouTube products, these apps fill the need for audio-only consumption of YouTube content.
The Future of Audio on YouTube
While YouTube’s focus has traditionally been on video, there are signs the platform may expand its audio-only features in the future. In October 2021, YouTube announced new accessibility features like auto-translated captions on live streams, which shows an interest in improving the audio experience across the platform (Source).
YouTube Music also highlighted upcoming “audio-first” features in their 2023 roadmap, indicating the potential for more audio-centric options across YouTube as a whole (Source). This could point to an expanded audio-only mode, more accessibility features around audio, or new formats optimized for audio listening.
While concrete details are still scarce, YouTube seems to be acknowledging user demand for audio-focused experiences. If these early audio features gain traction, YouTube may be inclined to invest further in audio-only modes, podcast integration, or other audio optimizations. For now, the platform appears to be cautiously testing the waters when it comes to an audio-first future.
Conclusion
In summary, while YouTube was originally designed as a video platform, there has been increasing demand from users for audio-only options. YouTube experimented with a dedicated audio streaming service called YouTube Music Key in 2014, but discontinued it in 2015. Currently, YouTube offers limited audio-only features – users can minimize the video window to only show audio controls, or use a Premium subscription to play audio in the background. However, ads still play even in audio-only mode. To get around this, some users have found workarounds like using third party apps or converting videos to audio. While YouTube seems focused on video, the demand for better audio features persists. The platform faces challenges balancing the preferences of creators, advertisers, and users when it comes to audio functionality. Overall, YouTube’s core experience remains visual, but the future possibilities for audio streaming remain open.