YouTube Music’s radio algorithm has been modified to incorporate more artists, as well as new features such as Family OS and Wear OS Shuffle. The new capabilities are part of a slew of YouTube Music improvements revealed by Google in February and March. Because of the recent changes, selecting a song from the search results will only play that song.
Family listening has been moved to a new family shelf on YouTube Music, and duplicates will no longer be displayed on the Listen Again shelf. On the YouTube Music Wear OS app, you can now shuffle and play all of your downloaded tracks. A recent report suggests that YouTube is attempting to improve podcast intake on its platform.
The enhancements to YouTube Music are part of Google’s schedule of YouTube Music updates for February and March. YouTube Music has altered the “back-end logic that nominates the music that shows up” on Song Radio in order to “boost artist diversity in these playlists,” according to the company. This means that instead of producing a radio station, selecting a song from the search results will now only play that track. From the Up Next queue, you may still choose to enable Autoplay.
On YouTube Music, family listening has been relegated to a new tier. The family shelf has a customized Family Mix as well as other songs. Duplicates will also no longer appear on the Listen Again shelf on YouTube Music for smart televisions and game consoles. On the Listen Again shelf, the “number of results” will be “increased.”
Instead of being limited to ordered play and playlist shuffles, the YouTube Music Wear OS software now allows you to shuffle and play all of your downloaded music.
According to a recent report, YouTube appears to be planning to compete with podcast industry behemoths Apple and Spotify. An 84-page document that is believed to define the company’s roadmap has been purportedly leaked. The text is thought to be aimed at podcast producers. YouTube is allegedly working to improve podcast consumption on its platform, according to this leaked document. A new podcast homepage with a familiar YouTube style is also coming.
