I have been paying for Spotify Premium for as long as the platform has been popular. However, as a YouTube Premium subscriber, which includes YouTube Music Premium, I only recently realized that I have been sleeping on a fantastic music streaming service.

Seamless Integration With YouTube

As a musician and music fan, I find YouTube a godsend for viewing music videos and live concerts, finding rare cuts, and interacting with like-minded folks. YouTube Music Premium uses its sibling resource by bridging the gap between audio and video like no other streaming service. If you love watching live performances and music videos like me, the ability to effortlessly toggle between a song’s audio track and its video is a serious game-changer (you can even install YouTube Music Premium as a desktop app from your browser).

This integration makes music discovery more enjoyable, as it’s easier for me to engage with the music I’m trialing and get to know the artists behind it better. While other streaming services offer videos, these are usually limited to the official music videos accompanying the tracks, excluding music not released as a single or live release. On YouTube Music Premium, I can watch and/or listen to a live performance of Paradise City from 1992, followed by its studio release, if I wish to get sentimental about the “good old days” of MTV.

Unmatched Music Discovery

Music streaming is all about discovery for me. As much as I love sifting through vinyl at record shops, to be able to search a seemingly infinite database of music that I can trial and add to my collection is what dreams are made of. As far as I’m concerned, YouTube Music does this better than all of the competition.

Thanks to YouTube’s massive database and next-level algorithm, YouTube Music Premium is great for finding hidden gems, including rare releases, unreleased demos, and indie remixes. I often stumble upon content that doesn’t even exist on Spotify or Apple Music, two platforms that I have always loved, but which are starting to pale in comparison.

As someone who has long been frustrated by the amount of good music that is discontinued by record companies, I’ll usually quickly find what I’m looking for on YouTube Music Premium. Even when I don’t, I often find a similar release or compilation that includes some of the tracks I’m after.

Effortless Background Play and Offline Downloads

Most of the time, as I listen to music, I’m engaged in another activity, whether motorcycling (via my Bluetooth helmet), exercising, or doing household chores. One of the most frustrating aspects of using free YouTube on your phone is the inability to listen with your screen off, which means you often consume unnecessary data while it’s in use, and you can’t slip your phone into your pocket and enjoy your favorite jams.

Thankfully, this is not the case with YouTube Music Premium, as background play is seamless, which is great for multitasking or saving battery. Offline downloads are just as easy, letting you save entire playlists or albums with a single tap. This is ideal for when I’m listening to music on two wheels, where data connectivity can be spotty, or for anyone with a limited data plan, who is a frequent traveler, or regularly commutes.

A Personalized Experience That Accurately Learns My Tastes

Whether it’s a deep cut, a regional hit, or a niche genre, I find that YouTube Music Premium curates surprisingly on-point recommendations despite my eclectic (or is that oddball?) tastes. I have previously written about the virtues of other streaming platforms and their recommendations, but there’s a good reason why YouTube Music Premium seems to get them just right.

As a Google-owned enterprise, YouTube Music Premium has access to some of the most powerful programming resources, and it shows. While all streaming platforms use algorithms to recommend music, YouTube Music Premium leverages both my YouTube and music history for far more accurate suggestions. My “Supermix” (a 100-song playlist based on all my tastes) and “Discover Mix” (a weekly 50-track playlist based on my listening history) often feel surprisingly tailored to my mood. They don’t just offer what’s currently trending, but suggest tracks that truly resonate with my style.

Excellent Value With Useful Perks

Almost everyone I know uses YouTube, and it has evolved from being a user-friendly public video-sharing platform to a legitimate broadcasting channel that offers some genuinely compelling programming with high production values. I would therefore argue that it’s worth paying for the YouTube Premium service even if YouTube Music Premium wasn’t bundled at a discounted price.

On its own, YouTube Music Premium is competitively priced at $10.99 per month, and when bundled with YouTube Premium for $13.99, it becomes an even better value. For this, you get ad-free YouTube across the board, background play, and music streaming all in one package. For two dollars more than I’m paying for just music on my Spotify Premium account, I’m essentially getting two services.

If, like me, you’re a fan of old, rare, and obscure releases who also watches a lot of YouTube, switching to YouTube Music Premium makes sense. However, it is also ideal for sourcing new releases from unsigned artists and independent labels. The combination of superior discovery tools, exclusive content, and dual functionality as both a music and video player gives the platform an edge over the competition, although it lacks the excellent Spotify Connect function. YouTube Music Premium isn’t just an alternative—it might be the upgrade you didn’t know you needed.