Google announced a free, ad-supported version of YouTube Music to all users of Google Home and other Google-powered speakers.

“Starting today, YouTube Music is offering a free, ad-supported experience on Google Home speakers or other Google Assistant-powered speakers,” Google’s James Goddard announced. “With YouTube Music and Google Home, you can ask Google Home to play the right music for any moment or mood, and YouTube Music will play the perfect station, customized to your tastes based upon your request.”

The free, ad-supported version of YouTube Music is, of course, limited in other ways. You can’t ask to play specific albums, songs, artists, or playlists. And there are limits on song skips and replays. Google says that speaker customers who need those features can pay $9.99 per month for the full version of YouTube Music, which also has no ads.

It’s likely that this new version of YouTube Music is a pre-emptive strike against Amazon, which is getting ready to launch its own free, ad-supported version of Amazon Music that will work with its own ecosystem of Echo and Alexa-compatible smart speakers.

To get started with YouTube Music and smart speakers, check out the YouTube Music Help website.

Tagged with Google Assistant, Google Home