How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 1

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music?

Google Play Music is being discontinued at the end of the year, leaving YouTube Music as Google’s only streaming music service. But before that happens, you have a chance to import your music library, recommendations, purchased songs and personal uploads to YouTube Music with just a few taps. This ensures that you don’t lose any content when Google Play Music is finally turned off.

The transfer can be done from an Android device, iPhone or the web. Whichever method you choose, all your stuff will move in the background and you can listen to YouTube Music and use the app normally.

With Android phone or iPhone

The process is the same for mobile devices regardless of whether you use Android or iOS.

  • Make sure you have the latest version of YouTube Music installed from Google Play or App Store
  • Open YouTube Music. You may get a pop-up advertising YouTube Music Premium. Ignore this for now.
  • On the main home screen, you should see a banner that says “Transfer your Play Music library”. If you go to the app’s settings, you’ll also notice a new “Transfer from Google Play Music” option, which is a second way to start the process. If you can’t find either method, Google may not have rolled out the transfer feature to your account yet, so check again.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 4

Photograph by Chris Welch / Moyens I/O

  • Tap “Let’s go”. YouTube Music then displays everything you’re about to move from Google Play Music, including songs, albums, playlists, purchases, downloads, your personalized like profile/recommendations, and songs you like and dislike.
  • Press “Start Transfer” at the bottom and the process will begin. (Note: By completing this step, you agree to: YouTube’s terms of service, stored music policyand Google’s privacy policy.) If you choose “Not Now”, you will return to the main YouTube Music home screen and the banner for transferring your content will remain there.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 5

Image: Google

  • Once the process starts, you’ll see a permanent “Transferring your Google Play Music library” status bar at the top of YouTube Music. Depending on the size of your library and how many other people are doing the transfer, the migration can take minutes or up to several days. Downloads and purchases take the longest since Google created a direct copy of these files, while things like playlists and your taste preferences transfer almost instantly.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 6

Image: Google

  • When the transfer is complete, you will receive both a notification in the app and an email confirming your readiness.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 7

Image: Google

  • After it’s all over, take a look around and make sure everything completes the journey successfully. You should now also see the “Continue listening from Google Play Music” line on the home screen to make the transition a little smoother as you get used to the YouTube Music app.

From a web browser

You can also start the stream from YouTube Music on the web – both on mobile and in a desktop browser. The video below covers this process, not far from mobile.

If you continue to use Google Play Music you will need to transfer again

Google Play Music is available for now and you will still be able to access the service even after you migrate your library to YouTube Music. However, if you make changes to playlists in Google Play Music or any other part of your library, you’ll need to do another transfer for them to be reflected in YouTube Music. The two services do not synchronize content.

Fortunately, Google only transfers changes or new ones during subsequent transfers and does not try to re-copy your entire library. The text will also read slightly differently and should say something like “transfer your latest Google Play Music additions”.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 8

Image: Google

More questions answered

I really love Google Play Music! How long do I need to continue using it?

Google has yet to reveal exactly when Google Play Music will go offline, but it’s scheduled to happen later this year. Going forward, you can expect to see messages like the one below in Google Play Music.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 9

Image: Google

What happens to the albums and songs I’ve purchased from Google Play Music since YouTube Music doesn’t allow you to buy music?

All your purchased music will now appear in the downloads section of YouTube Music, which can be found on the right-hand tab when browsing your library or viewing search results.

How to transfer your Google Play Music library to YouTube Music? 10

Image: Google

What about podcasts?

Google Podcasts is now the company’s preferred player for podcasts, so this is what you can use after going through Google Play Music.

Is it possible for me to lose some songs to YouTube Music that I was able to stream to Google Play Music before?

Yes, there may be cases where this happens. The music catalogs of YouTube Music and Google Play Music are not a perfect 1:1 match. If a track isn’t available, YouTube Music shows the track in gray in the playlist. It does this so that if the company gets the rights to that song later, it will automatically appear where you expect it to.

However, keep in mind that all of your personal uploads will be transferred. If after the migration you finally find that a track is missing from YouTube Music’s streaming catalog, you can download it from your computer if you have it.

Downloads? How do these work?

YouTube Music finally added personal uploads a few months ago – and the limit has been doubled from Google Play’s limit of 50,000 to now 100,000 songs. I think this is one of the best aspects of the whole service. But there is no longer a desktop app to send your files to the cloud; You need to install them using the YouTube Music website.

How will my Google Play Music subscription be transferred?

During the transfer to YouTube Music process, Google analyzes the benefits of your current Google Play Music subscription and gives you the equivalent subscription. For example, if your plan previously included ad-free YouTube access, you will continue to do so. If not, you get YouTube Music’s standard plan. The price you pay each month and your invoice date should remain the same.

I still have the really cheap $7.99 subscription plan I got when Google Play Music “All Access” first launched in 2013. Will I be able to sustain this with YouTube Music?

Incredibly, the answer to this question is yes. Google is doing the right thing for customers and allows them to keep that promotion rate from years ago even after switching to YouTube Music. And if you live in a market where $7.99 gets you regular YouTube with no ads, you’ll keep it too. New customers don’t get anything even close to this sweet deal. Enjoy.

What about family plans?

Family plans also carry over to their YouTube Music equivalents, and Google says users who make the transition will be left by their grandparents, per Google Play Music family plan rules. YouTube Music requires all customers with a family plan to live at the same address – I’m not sure how strict the company is about this – but Google Play Music never had this rule, so existing customers won’t have to worry about it.

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