YouTube Music adds ‘Released’ playlist to compete with Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’

Abner Li | Aug 25 2019 - 8:25 pm PT

After finally gaining the ability to sort albums and other saved library content, YouTube Music’s latest addition is the “Released” playlist of the “hottest 50 songs.” It’s similar to Apple Music’s “New Music Daily” and Spotify’s “New Music Friday.”

“Released” is comprised of “the hottest 50 songs this week, served up fresh to you every Friday.” The first edition coincided with the release of Taylor Swift’s Lover, and she unsurprisingly graces the cover artwork. YouTube Music is likely to adopt this template that features the service’s circular logo — instead of YouTube’s generic play icon on older playlists — in the top left and the “feat.” artist at the bottom corner.

For some users, it’s prominently advertised in the “Home” feed with a full-width card noting the “new playlist” and “This week’s new tracks.” Like other playlists, it can be added to your library, and downloaded for offline playback. It’s directly accessible via this link.

It differs from the “New Release Mix” that is personalized and “selected just for you.” That usually updates every Friday, while trending can always be accessed from the Hotlist section/tab. Playlists for the top 100 songs and music videos — sourced from YouTube Charts — are also available.

YouTube Music’s new “Released” playlist comes as Apple Music just revamped its equivalent offering last Friday. Apple replaced “Best of the Week” with “New Music Daily,” while Spotify has “New Music Friday.”

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