Finding good music can be challenging, even if you have a good ear. While you can browse a ton of options in YouTube Music's Home feed, you have to fast-forward songs to see if they're worth listening to.
Luckily, your days of struggling to find something fresh to listen to are behind you. YouTube Music's Samples feature lets you "sample" an array of music to find tracks you like. It's like scrolling through social media for content that catches your eye.
What Are Samples on YouTube Music?
YouTube Music's Samples tab is a music discovery tool that shows you snippets of music videos to help you discover songs you like. If that sounds familiar, it's probably because it works similarly to TikTok's For You Page (FYP).
TikTok's FYP shows you content you're likely to enjoy, helping you discover creators to follow. Similarly, YouTube Music's Samples tab is also a personalized feed. The idea is that you'll find something worthwhile instead of scrolling aimlessly for hours.
Instead of struggling to find something on YouTube Music's Home feed, the Samples feed shows you endless music video options, from new artists to OGs.
Because these are snippets, it allows you to browse more options in a short amount of time. The Samples feature plays the best segment of a song to increase the chances that you'll play the full song. The YouTube Music blog describes these snippets as "the appetizer to a whole meal." Moreover, you can conveniently explore the tracks you're interested in hearing more of right within the feed.
How to Use YouTube Music Samples to Discover New Music
Samples are straightforward. They're one of the YouTube Music features that make it a fantastic music streaming service.
To access the Samples tab:
- Open the YouTube Music app on your mobile phone.
- Tap the Samples tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Check out the snippets in the feed. Swipe up to see more.
You'll notice a bunch of menu items on the right side of each music video snippet. These menu items allow you to like a song, add it to a playlist, and share it with friends. Tap the More button (the three-dot menu) to check out more options. From here, you can download songs on YouTube Music, add them to your library, go to the artist’s page for more information, and more.
More importantly, tap Play to watch the whole music video. This will take you to the YouTube Music player, where you can find the song's lyrics and comments and even see how many people have liked the video. Tap Song at the top of the screen if you prefer to play the audio version.
What Else Can You Use YouTube Music Samples For?
Finding songs to add to short-form content can be challenging, especially if you want to stand out. But sometimes, short-form video creators immediately know when a song would be a good fit for a video.
YouTube Music's Samples feature isn't just good for finding songs to add to your library. It can inspire new Shorts and help you find the right sounds to pair your videos with.
Here's how to create a Short from a Sample on YouTube Music:
- Tap the Samples tab in the YouTube Music mobile app.
- Select Short. This will take you to the song's page on the YouTube app, where you can check out other Shorts that sampled the song for inspiration.
- Tap Use this sound to start creating a Short immediately.
If you aren't ready to create a Short, tap Save to keep the song on hand for future Shorts.
Find New Music to Stream With YouTube Music Samples
We aren't saying you'll never struggle to find new music on YouTube Music again, but Samples should make it a little easier. Explore it to find new music quickly and conveniently. Using the Samples tab is also a good way to gauge how well YouTube knows your taste in music.