YouTube Music has launched its latest updates for subscribers of YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium as well as a new playlist for South Africa. The update will allow users to switch between a song and its music video for an uninterrupted experience, plus Smart Downloads which takes the work out of downloading your favourite music.
With Smart Downloads, YouTube Music automatically saves music at night, when connected to Wi-Fi, helping music lovers to use less mobile data and save up to 500 of their favourite songs offline using their Liked Songs playlist as well as other favourite playlists and albums.
Previously, music lovers could use the Offline Mixtape feature to download up to 100 songs, specifically chosen for them based on what they listened to and loved most on the platform. Now, with Smart Downloads, users can simply select the number of songs they would like automatically downloaded by toggling their YouTube Music Settings. This means YouTube Music Premium subscribers with Smart Downloads enabled on their mobile devices can now access hundreds of their favourite tracks regardless of connectivity. This feature is currently available on Android, with plans to bring it to iOS in the future.
If you’re looking for a little inspiration to test out these new features, YouTube Music has launched some playlists for South African users – check them out:
- Top Tracks
- Top Mzansi
- Top SA House
- Top SA Hip Hop
- Top Afrikaans
- Top AmaPiano
- Top SA Gospel and Soul
These playlists show where South Africans’ musical hearts lie. Prince Kaybee is dominating the Top SA House playlist and has landed 4 tracks from his latest album, Re Mmino, in the Top Mzansi playlist. Nasty C’s SMA is the most listened to track from a South African artist in 2019 (to date) — which fans can find on the Top Tracks playlist.
The Top Afrikaans playlist features tracks from the latest albums dropped by Elandré and Speogwolf, plus hits from Jo Black and more. Joyous Celebration currently has 8 tracks on the Top SA Gospel and Soul playlist. And on the Hip Hop front, the Top SA Hip Hop playlist includes YoungstaCPT and A-Reece.
YouTube Music also has a Top AmaPiano playlist. AmaPiano is a South African electronic music sub-genre that is growing rapidly in popularity. It’s a relatively new movement in South African House music, and contains elements of Jazz and Kwaito, with soulful piano and deep house foundations. Two AmaPiano tracks feature on the Top Tracks playlist – Kokota by Kaygee DaKing, Bizizi and Killa Kau, and Shesha by Mthuda and Njelic — a firm sign of just how popular the genre is becoming.
Edited by Fundisiwe Maseko
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