As Google Play Music starts shutting down, Google has been adding more features to YouTube Music in an attempt to make the music streaming service appealing to users across the globe. The latest feature in the works is the ability to share songs from YouTube Music to Instagram and Snapchat stories.
First reported by 9to5Google, two new options – Instagram stories and Snapchat stories appear on YouTube Music’s share sheet. However, it doesn’t seem to be completely functional as tapping on the icon reportedly led to a crash. The new icons were not present when I checked on YouTube Music version 4.0.2.51, which hints this is a limited A/B test for now.
YouTube Music is not the first streaming service to let users share songs on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Spotify introduced the feature and made it mainstream among melophiles. Following its success, Apple Music brought a similar implementation with an iOS update for iPhone users and later on Android.
Once functional, YouTube Music’s song share feature could work just like Spotify and Apple Music. For those who are not familiar, you will see the track’s title, artist’s name, and the album art when you open the story. You can then conveniently tap on the preview to listen to that song from YouTube Music on your device.
Behind the scenes, YouTube Music is also prepping a ‘Year in Review’ playlist, which is yet another feature taken right from Spotify’s playbook. The feature is live at least for one Reddit user and we could expect the company to expand the rollout to everyone by the end of the year.
