It is reported that YouTube Music is experimenting with the “Samples” short form feature, which will pave the way for previewing music videos in the streaming service.
YouTube Music’s potential foray into music videos came to light in a recent Reddit post, as well as in subsequent reports from various sources, including 9to5Google. According to the involved Redditor, who attached a screenshot in Portuguese to the message, some mobile users can currently access the “Samples” offer of the streaming platform owned by Google through the tab of the same name located at the bottom of the screen.
Located between the existing “Home” and “Explore” tabs, according to the mentioned screenshot, the “Samples” option when clicked leads to a vertical video page focused on music. “These are mostly short films on YouTube, but only for music videos,” summed up the original poster, who also indicated that he lives in Brazil.
(Major labels continue to double down on efforts to expand — and stop piracy — in Brazil, South America’s largest music industry. Now, according to IFPI, Brazil boasts the ninth largest market in the world, Brazil receives the vast majority of its music revenue from streaming. .)
According to once again the person who noticed Samples, the corresponding “tab just popped up” and he did not receive notifications or messages about this feature in advance. After answering the questions of interested YouTube Music users, the original poster uploaded the Samples clip.
Fans can view a seemingly endless selection of music video previews (which showcase various parts of the available media files, not just their beginnings), as if they were making videos on Shorts and other similar platforms, for each clip. Song titles and artist names are displayed at the bottom of the screen, and users can open a quick navigation menu with a single tap, containing shortcuts to YouTube Music artists’ radio channels and options for saving songs.
Switching between samples and different tabs does not seem to disrupt the video of the first one, which seems to continue and resume playback from where it was stopped. Interestingly, the Redditor clip also shows that listeners can freely access all music videos (as well as related music videos) directly from Samples.
It’s unclear when YouTube Music will officially announce the samples and initiate a wider rollout (or whether it will), but this feature is just the latest in a series of additions that competitor Spotify has introduced by this point in 2023. Since the beginning of the year, the platform has tested and/or launched “Create Radio”, real-time song lyrics and, most importantly, podcasts.
In particular, regarding the music video, in conclusion, it is worth noting that the smart TV app ROXi announced the raising of approximately $8.7 million last month and is reportedly planning to expand in the US, while Vevo and TikTok announced a partnership in early 2023.
