YouTube Music launches new Samples tab to help you discover music

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A personalized feed with snippets of songs you might like.

A Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 running YouTube Music next to a Greygreen Galaxy Z Fold 4
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • YouTube Music has a new TikTok/Shorts-style feed that previews songs with short-form video.
  • Users can swipe to view other songs, add songs to playlists, use the track to create a Short, and much more.
  • The new personalized Samples feed starts rolling out on Tuesday, August 15.

YouTube Music is introducing a new way to discover music with the launch of a tab with a personalized TikTok-style feed called Samples. The new Samples tab will sit on the bottom navigation row, in between the Home and Explore tabs.

The new personalized feed will show short-form video previews of songs that users may be interested in. Similar to short-form video platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, users can swipe up to switch to another song. If you like a song, you can hit the like button on the side or tap on the thumbnail in the bottom corner to view the album it's on.

The feed also includes other options, including quickly adding the song to a playlist, creating a Short using the song, sharing it with others, and more.

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Adding a song to a playlist from the YouTube Music Samples tab
(Image credit: Google)

YouTube Music is a great music streaming service, and while it hasn't been as creative or aggressive with music discovery as some other apps, Samples looks to change that.

Spotify recently rolled out a major revamp that essentially takes Samples to another level. The app features automatic preview cards for recommended content throughout its music, podcasts, and audiobook feeds. However, the new UI has been fairly divisive among Spotify users, to say the least, so it's good that YouTube Music is confining the new experience to a dedicated tab, at least for now.

"In the future, we'll explore how this type of short-form discovery can inform other parts of the YouTube Music app and look for opportunities to provide joyful new experiences that make it easy to discover new artists and their music," says T. Jay Fowler, YouTube Music's director of product management.

The new Samples tab rolls out globally starting today, August 15.

Derrek Lee
Derrek Lee
Managing Editor

Derrek is the managing editor of Android Central, helping to guide the site's editorial content and direction to reach and resonate with readers, old and new, who are just as passionate about tech as we are. He's been obsessed with mobile technology since he was 12, when he discovered the Nokia N90, and his love of flip phones and new form factors continues to this day. As a fitness enthusiast, he has always been curious about the intersection of tech and fitness. When he's not working, he's probably working out.