Where did my music go from Google Play Music?
Google recently announced that Google Play Music will be shutting down later in 2020. After several years of overlap between the two services, Google Play Music is officially migrating to YouTube Music by the end of this year. This transition means that Google Play Music will no longer be available, and users’ music libraries, playlists, preferences, and more will need to be transferred over to YouTube Music.
With the shutdown scheduled for late 2020, now is the time for Google Play Music users to prepare by transferring their music libraries and settings to YouTube Music. This guide will explain the migration process and key details, so you can ensure a smooth transition for your personal music collection.
Music Library Migration
After Google announced that Google Play Music is shutting down, they provided users a tool to transfer their music libraries over to YouTube Music. This includes any songs you’ve either uploaded or purchased through Google Play Music. The transfer involves moving over your entire music collection, including uploaded/purchased songs, albums, artists, playlists, recommendations, and more. According to Android Central, the transfer process works as follows:
- Open the YouTube Music app on your Android or iOS device.
- Tap the “Let’s Go” button under the Play Music banner.
- Tap “Start Transfer.”
- Your Google Play Music library will then begin transferring over.
The transfer can take some time depending on how large your music collection is. Once it’s complete, you’ll have access to all your content in the YouTube Music app. Everything from playlists to recommendations to uploads will be present after migration.
Uploaded and Purchased Music
If you had music uploaded or purchased through Google Play Music, that content has been automatically transferred to YouTube Music. To find music you uploaded or bought, follow these steps:
Go to YouTube Music and tap “Library”. This will show all of your uploaded and purchased music. You can also filter by “Uploads” or “Purchases” using the left sidebar.
Uploads will appear under the “Uploads” tab with the label “Uploaded by you”. Purchased music will be under “Purchases” and labeled “Purchased by you”.
You can also search for specific uploaded or purchased music using search. Make sure to click “Uploaded by you” or “Purchased by you” in the filters to only see those results.
If certain music is missing from your library, you may need to upload it again or restore purchases. Refer to this help article for instructions on uploading. For help with purchases, contact Google Play support.
Playlists
When Google Play Music shut down, all of your playlists were automatically transferred over to YouTube Music. This includes any playlists you created yourself as well as any automated playlists like Thumbs Up, Recently Added, and more. According to Google’s support page, all playlist names, descriptions, contents and privacy settings were preserved during the transfer.
The transfer aimed to keep your YouTube Music library as close as possible to your Google Play Music library. Playlists appear in the Library tab in YouTube Music, along with your uploads, purchases, and recommendations. One difference is that YouTube Music separates your playlists into two tabs – Created playlists and Auto playlists. This allows you to easily find playlists you specifically created versus ones YouTube Music generates for you.
Overall, playlists were designed to seamlessly transfer over to YouTube Music so you don’t lose these collections of songs and can pick up where you left off listening.
Recommendations
YouTube Music’s recommendations are based on your past listening history and interactions within the app. This includes the songs, albums, artists and playlists you’ve listened to, liked, disliked or added to your library. The more you use YouTube Music, the better the recommendations become at surfacing music you’ll enjoy (Google, 2022).
Recommendations are personalized and unique for each user account. If you want YouTube Music to better understand your music taste, make sure to actively listen, add to your library, like/dislike and create playlists. Over time, recommendations will improve as the algorithm learns more about your preferences (Reddit, 2018).
Search and Radio
YouTube Music has search features to help you find songs, albums, artists, playlists and more. However, its search capabilities aren’t as robust as Google Play Music’s were. Entering a song or artist may bring up multiple versions of tracks, live performances, covers, and more mixed together in the results.
While search on YouTube Music may lack some of the filtering and precision of Google Play Music, YouTube Music makes up for it with its personalized recommendations. The Home tab provides customized playlists and recommendations based on your listening history and musical tastes. This includes Discover Mix for new music, Your Mixtape for favorite songs and artists, and endless auto-generated playlists.
YouTube Music also shines with its radio stations. Just like Pandora or Spotify, you can start radio stations based on songs, artists, genres or moods. The more you listen, the better the radio becomes at recommending music you’ll enjoy. So explore the various personalized playlists and radio stations to continue finding great music on YouTube Music.
For more details, see this helpful guide: How to copy YouTube Running Music to Your Smartphone
Uploads
If you have your own personal music collection that you want to access within YouTube Music, you can upload your songs to add them to your library. YouTube Music allows you to upload both individual tracks as well as full albums.
To upload music, first go to music.youtube.com and click on your profile picture in the top right corner. In the dropdown menu, select “Upload music”. On the upload page, you can drag and drop your audio files or select them from your computer.
Uploading goes faster if you have metadata like song titles and artist names already embedded. YouTube Music will scan the metadata and add your uploads to your library with all the correct info. Without metadata, you’ll have to manually enter details for each track.
After uploading, you can find your music by selecting “Uploads” from the library menu. Here you can play, favorite, add to playlists and manage your uploaded content. You can upload up to 1000 tracks for free. Uploaded songs will stream for you just like any other content on YouTube Music.
Downloads
One of the key features of YouTube Music is the ability to download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening when you don’t have an internet connection. This allows you to access your music library anywhere without using mobile data.
To download music for offline listening on the YouTube Music app, tap on the download button next to a song, album, or playlist. The downloads will be available in the “Downloads” section of the Library tab. You can manage your downloaded content by tapping “Edit” and delete anything you no longer want downloaded.
YouTube Music Premium subscribers can download as much content as they want for offline listening. Non-Premium users are limited to offline listening of videos they have purchased or uploaded themselves (source1). Downloaded songs will stay on your device for 30 days and can be renewed as long as you have an internet connection (source2).
One tip is to connect to WiFi whenever possible to avoid using too much mobile data when downloading songs or refreshing offline content (source3). Overall, the offline listening feature makes it easy to access your favorite music anywhere, even without an internet connection.
Account Settings
When transitioning from Google Play Music to YouTube Music, your account settings should transfer over automatically. However, some users have reported issues accessing their account settings in YouTube Music after the migration.
To manage your YouTube Music account settings on desktop, click on your profile picture in the top right corner and select “Settings.” On mobile, tap your profile picture and choose “Settings.” Here you can edit your name, profile photo, manage subscriptions, and adjust other preferences.
If your account settings did not properly transfer over, you may need to redo your subscription in YouTube Music using your Google account. According to one user, “You can renew your subscription using your Google account number” to restore access to your account settings and preferences (Source).
Additionally, check that your language and region settings match between Google Play Music and YouTube Music, as conflicting settings can sometimes cause issues. As one forum user suggested, “My YouTube Music account settings have my language set to English (UK), and my region set to Canada. I have tried changing the language on YouTube to match Google Play which resolved the issue” (Source).
With your Google account info and matching language/region settings, you should be able to fully access and manage your YouTube Music account settings.
Still Can’t Find Your Music?
If you’ve completed the migration process but are still missing music in YouTube Music, here are some troubleshooting tips:
Double check that you fully completed the transfer process and didn’t accidentally skip any steps. Log into your Google account at music.youtube.com and navigate to Library > Songs to view your full music library.
Make sure you’ve selected the correct account if you have multiple YouTube/Google accounts. Your music will only transfer to the specific account you migrated.
Try searching for missing songs or artists directly in the YouTube Music search bar. The search algorithm may categorize them differently than Google Play Music.
Downloaded or purchased music won’t transfer automatically. You’ll need to download these songs again through the Google Takeout tool (takeout.google.com). Make sure to deselect everything except “YouTube and YouTube Music.”
Try uninstalling and reinstalling the YouTube Music app on your mobile device if you’re missing music there. This will force a refresh.
As a last resort, double check your Google Play Music purchases at payments.google.com. You can download purchased songs again if needed.
If you still can’t locate missing music after trying these troubleshooting tips, reach out to YouTube Music support for personalized help relocating your library.