Free YouTube Music tier going audio-only as video watching becomes Premium perk - 9to5Google

Starting next month, YouTube Music is getting free background listening in a major revamp of the streaming service’s ad-supported tier.

As part of that, the YouTube Music app is going audio-only and will no longer play videos if you don’t pay for Premium.

To balance the upcoming change, free YouTube Music users will no longer be able to watch music videos in the app.

This is becoming a YouTube Premium perk as Google shifts YouTube Music for free users to be an audio-only experience.

Google confirmed to us this change to videos in YouTube Music, while a help post lays out the new tiering system.

It comes as Apple Music on Monday introduced a cheaper “Voice Plan.” As per usual, Google and YouTube are just combating that with a free “radio-like” tier that is supported with advertising