Google’s list of developments to YouTube Music in February and March is here and includes some notable additions (like to the radio algorithm) that weren’t already spotted.
We already chronicled the redesigned Add to Playlist UI, song/video switcher on the web, Snapchat integration (though being able to share artist pages is a recent addition), Save to queue, and Explore shelf that makes the dedicated tab redundant.
The YouTube Music team says it has improved the “back-end logic that nominates the music that shows up” in Song Radio (and playlist automixes) to “increase artist diversity in these playlists.” As such:
Since making these changes we’ve noticed an increase in likes and song discovery from these playlists and our teams are eager to further better this experience for all of you down the road.
On that front, selecting a song from search results will only play that track instead of also generating a radio station. You can still turn on Autoplay from the Up Next queue.
Meanwhile, YouTube Music has “confined Family listening to a new family shelf.” It includes a personalized Family Mix (favorites plus new songs) and other playlists:
If you typically listen to music appropriate for a family, you’ll see a ‘For the Family’ shelf on your home feed with the Family mix as the first playlist available in it. We’re continuing to build similar features keeping target family listeners in mind, and hope to experiment with a more video-forward Family Mix and better Smart TV & gaming console integrations in the future.
Speaking of shelves, the Listen Again shelf on YouTube Music for smart televisions and gaming consoles will stop showing duplicates and feature an “increased number of results.”
Lastly, the YouTube Music Wear OS app now lets you shuffle play all your downloaded music instead of being limited to ordered play and playlist shuffles.
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