YouTube Music Unveils "Ask Music": AI-Powered Radio and Playlist Assistant

YouTube Music's AI radio officially gets a name: here's what you can "Ask Music" to do

Would you like to turn any musical idea into a custom YouTube Music station? All you need to do is Ask Music. That's the new name for the AI-powered radio station creator, which was piloted in July by YouTube and is now rolling out to some English-language users on Android. The feature is still officially in testing, but according to 9to5Google, it appears to be turning up in more and more people's apps, albeit not on iOS; it's appeared for Android users in the US, Canada and Australia at the time of writing. Ask Music is another one of Google's generative AI experiments (see hum-to-search and Gemini integration testing for others) and in this incarnation it enables you to describe the kind of music you'd like to hear - melancholy indie rock, perhaps, or Seattle rock scene, or jangly 60s pop - to have YouTube Music create a custom station playing exactly that. You can describe your music by genre or by characteristics such as epic choruses, or both: upbeat pop, angry metal and so on. The use of generative AI trained on a huge dataset means this feature could be really useful, particularly if you're picky: being able to create playlists based on very specific and personalized criteria should mean much more meaningful results featuring much more music that you'll want to hear. Let's be honest, other people's playlists can be pretty patchy, so the introduction of AI to YouTube Music's discovery features could prove really interesting. As yet there's no sign of an official rollout to everybody, but the launch is clearly coming closer, so if it isn't already in your Android app it shouldn't be long before it makes an appearance. One thing is for certain: YouTube Music really is starting to make a play for inclusion in our best music streaming services guide...

YouTube Music starts rolling out its AI playlist maker "Ask Music"

The rollout still seems limited to a few countries and only in the English language. In June, we spotted a new AI-powered "Ask for Music" feature in the YouTube Music app. In July, Google confirmed that such a feature is being tested and that it will allow users to create a custom playlist by describing what they want to hear. Now, the feature is finally seeing a wider rollout. Officially called "Ask Music," the AI playlist maker is now appearing on YouTube Music as a bright purple and pink card that reads "Introducing Ask Music." The tool essentially curates a playlist based on prompts entered by users. For instance, you can ask for "catchy pop tunes," and the AI will generate a radio station named after the prompt. 9to5Google reports that the new "Ask Music" feature is included with your YouTube Premium membership. That means non-Premium users may not have access to the feature. According to reports, it is currently rolling out in the US, Canada, and Australia. It also appears to be available only in English and only on the YouTube Music Android app. In July, Google confirmed that the feature is being tested in the US and should roll out more widely in the future. It remains to be seen how well YouTube's version works in comparison to Spotify's AI playlist creator.

YouTube Music is formally rolling out Ask Music, its new AI playlist assistant

There are tons of music streaming apps that all pretty much provide the same content. But we all gravitate towards different services for other reasons, whether it be something small like the UI, or maybe something more significant, like exclusive features. Sometimes it all comes down to just a playlist recap, which some services like Spotify do really well. Related YouTube Music: Everything you need to know about Google's streaming music service How does YTMusic compare to the competition and is it worth the switch? Whatever the reason, it's the small things that really matter here which bring music streaming services to continuously try new things, with some attempting to utilize AI in order to bring something new to the table. We've seen mixed results of these features in the past, but it looks like YouTube Music is going to now throw its hat into the ring, giving subscribers a new way to build a custom playlist without putting in any work. An easier way to make custom playlists Close The brand's new 'Ask Music' feature has officially found its way to the app, gaining a wider release, giving more people the chance to create a playlist that they'll love just by entering a prompt and having AI do the heavy lifting. We initially spotted this feature back in July, and now it's finally rolling out to more users (via 9to5Google). Now, before you dive into the app to give it a try, you'll want to know that it isn't available to every YouTube Music subscriber. Those that want to take advantage of this new feature will need to be a YouTube Music Premium subscriber, whether that's signing up directly with the service or getting the perk through a YouTube Premium subscription. As far as what we're seeing now, if you have satisfied the qualifications above, you should be greeted by a new splash screen that introduces Ask Music in the app. Once you hit the "try it now" button, it'll take you to a prompt asking "what you're in the mood for?" Once you type something in, the app will generate a new playlist based on your text, and well, hopefully it brings up something that you want to listen too. What's great about this feature is that it will populate a bunch of songs based on your request, and it will automatically label the playlist and add a description. Of course, just like any other service that uses AI, this is an experimental feature, and it won't always get everything right. But if you're interested, it will now be available as a card in the YouTube Music Premium app. So if you're a Premium subscriber, open up the app and give it a try. And if you don't see the feature yet, try updating the app.

YouTube Music's AI radio is officially called 'Ask Music'

"Ask Music" is the name of the AI prompt-based conversational radio in YouTube Music, and it's seeing wider availability, including internationally, in recent weeks. My account has had the feature since the end of August, but earlier today I got an "Introducing Ask Music" prompt to "Turn any idea into a custom radio." This announcement would suggest a wider launch is nearing. It's "included with your YouTube Premium membership." Gemini is not explicitly named, but the same sparkle icon is present. The feature appears as a purple card in the Home feed, like Create a radio or the banner advertising the availability of the June - August 2024 recap. Tapping launches a fullscreen chat UI with accepted prompts ranging from a few words -- 80s inspired indie, Dreamy synthpop, Saddest songs, etc. -- to sentences. After a few seconds, you get a playlist card with YTM translating that query into a shorter title and longer description. It auto-plays the first track by default with the ability to save to your library, and provide feedback. Meanwhile, we've seen reports in recent weeks of availability outside the US in Canada and Australia, with English being the commonality. In July, Google said it was just testing stateside, but planned to extend availability.