YouTube adds AI playlist generation for Premium subscribers

YouTube is rolling out a new AI-powered playlist-generation feature for Premium users—the subscribers to its paid service—on iOS and Android. The feature allows these paying subscribers to use text or voice prompts to build custom music playlists. To use the tool, subscribers can navigate to the Library tab in the app, tap the “New” button, and select the “AI playlist” option. From there, they can enter specific prompts—such as “raging death metal,” “sad post rock,” or ”90s classic hits”—to generate custom music mixes based on their preferences.

This official rollout follows a period of testing for the video streaming platform, which has been experimenting with AI-generated music tools for some time. In July 2024, YouTube tested a feature in the U.S. that allowed users to create custom radio stations using text prompts. With this launch, YouTube is aligning its service with several rival streaming platforms that have already introduced similar generative AI capabilities:

• Spotify has rolled out its own AI-powered playlist and radio creation features.
• Amazon Music has introduced similar AI-powered playlist generation tools for its users.
• Deezer has also launched generative AI features to let users build custom playlists.

The push to add generative AI features to the paid tier comes as parent company Google seeks to expand its subscription business. Earlier this month, the company reported that it has 325 million paying users across Google One and YouTube Premium. To make the paid tier more attractive, YouTube is also experimenting with restricting features for its free, ad-supported tier. Earlier this week, the company started restricting free users from viewing song lyrics on the YouTube Music app. The company told TechCrunch that this restriction is an experiment running “with a small percentage of ad-supported users,” meaning lyrics remain available to the vast majority of free users for now.

Why it matters

YouTube is expanding its AI-powered features for Premium subscribers to increase the value of its paid plan, while simultaneously restricting certain features for free users. This dual strategy highlights how major streaming platforms are leveraging generative tools to drive subscription growth while tightening restrictions on free tiers.