Music serves as an accompaniment to our daily lives, bringing rhythm to everything from active morning rituals to relaxing after a long day. Our favorite songs provide comfort, but it’s the undiscovered melodies that genuinely energize us. The vast amount of music availability might make it difficult to find the proper match. Many platforms have adopted TikTok’s scrolling vertical video style in recent years, and YouTube Music seems to be the next to follow the case with the debut of “Samples,” a new app option that enables discovering new music easier.
It’s a simple way to discover new music, but it’s not the end of the journey — it’s just the start of finding a new artist or song.
YouTube’s Samples Feature Overview:
What’s new?
YouTube Music’s product manager, Gregor Dodson, discussed how the Samples feed algorithm varies from the existing Discover and Supermix features of YouTube. It emphasizes artists you might recognize while introducing clips you haven’t viewed before.
Seemingly, the Samples’ feed is customized. Upon opening, the app provides a wide range of music that matches the user’s preferences. If the user discovers something they like, tapping on options enables playing the song, watching the full video, adding it to a playlist, or even creating a short video with it as background music on the main YouTube app.
How does YouTube’s Samples Feature work?
“Samples” is located in a new tab at the bottom of the app, alongside the home feed, library, and explore section. Tapping opens a brief vertical video clip of a song recommended by YouTube Music based on the user’s preferences. It highlights artists users like and introduces related ones they might not have discovered before.
The clips in Samples last for 30 seconds, akin to TikTok’s format. Clicking the Samples icon automatically triggers a short vertical video clip of a song recommended by YouTube Music. From any Sample, tapping the thumbs-up saves the song to the “liked songs” playlist. Users can also save it to any playlist they’ve created.
- You might want to read these:
When will the YouTube Samples Feature go global?
While TikTok is launching its dedicated music app, TikTok Music, to include the complete listening journey, YouTube is pursuing a similar goal from a different angle (it already has the “Shorts” tab as well). Samples, on the other hand, takes a less hectic approach as it is integrated as a simple app tab.
YouTube has announced that the global rollout of the Samples feature commences on the 15th of August, accessible to both Android and iOS users. Given that it’s common with new features, it could take a while before it appears on your app. So, having a bit of patience might be necessary.
- Meanwhile, check out our review of Realme Pad 2.
