Every social media app — and apparently music app — eventually turns into the same app.
When TikTok launched, everyone thought it was the app that young kids used to film themselves dancing. Quickly, due to its solid music library available for creators to integrate into their videos, it also became a hub of music discovery. There are many songs — new and old — that exploded in popularity due to viral videos on the social media app.
It appears that YouTube has realized that people are watching clips of music (and music videos) on TikTok rather than heading to watch the full video on YouTube, so the company is launching a new feature to take it on. In a blog post, YouTube Music announced Samples, a new tab on the app that will show you short-form pieces of music videos that will hopefully serve as a visual way to discover new songs that you want to add to your library.
The company is calling Samples “a seamless feed of short-form video segments to get you to your new favorite music.”
Powered by the world’s largest catalog of music videos, this personalized feed will explore the depths and breadth of the YouTube Music library so that there’s always something new to listen to, whether it’s the latest release from an up-and-coming artist or a deep cut from a legacy artist we just think you’d really like. Each immersive clip offers a glimpse into the artist, the video, and the feel of the song. Users can simply swipe vertically to experience a new song, making music discovery fun and effortless.
When watching a Sample, users will have a ton of options that allow them to “add the song to your collection, share it with friends, create your next favorite playlist, kick off a great new radio station, watch the full video, visit the album page, or even use the song to create your own Short.”
The feature also reminds me of the new Music tab experience that you get when you’re on the Spotify app, part of the major redesign of the app that launched earlier this year. That app also allows you to quickly watch the Canvas (short-form video) of a song and add it to your library. YouTube, however, seems to be taking it to the next level and offering TikTok-like features like creating your own Short out of it.
There is no denying that YouTube is getting a lot of inspiration from both TikTok and Spotify with the feature, but it does seem to offer something neither of those apps can alone since YouTube Music has the benefit of integrating with YouTube itself. That could certainly be a leg up for YouTube Music as it competes with both platforms.
YouTube says that Samples are starting to roll out to all users globally starting today, so keep an eye out for a new tab to show up in the app over the coming days and weeks!
