As part of Made on YouTube 2026, a handful of updates to YouTube Music that are coming later this year were previewed.
After moving search to the bottom bar earlier this year, YouTube Music is placing the Gemini spark icon in the top-right corner of the mobile app to let you access Ask Music. This more consistent entry point — compared to the Home feed card — slides up a sheet with the chat experience.
The prompt box is at the bottom of the screen with voice input available, while suggested queries include Create a mix, Discover artists, and Find podcasts.
Ask Music will also be surfaced throughout YouTube Music when relevant, like when you’re editing a playlist or creating a mix. The conversational tool is also adding more agentic features this year that let you “customize your queue or dive deeper into artist lore.”
These updates are coming later this year for global YouTube Premium and Music Premium subscribers.
The other YouTube Music update today is a “Your Podcast Lineup” feature that acts as a “personalized AI-audio guide.” It gives you a “weekly spoken preview of recommended shows” that includes why you might like them, as well as suggested episodes.
This “completely eyes-optional and hands-free” experience leverages audio gen AI capabilities. Testing will start later this year for subscribers worldwide.
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