The streaming video platform offers the ability to listen to songs from your favorite artists for free. Here's how to do it
Video will change our future, and some of it already is. It's no coincidence that the second most visited site in the world is the streaming video platform YouTube. The company bought by Google has become the reference point for millions of users all over the world.
On YouTube you can find the most disparate videos, from clips of theatrical shows, to videos uploaded by YouTubers, to highlights of Serie A matches, up to videos of music tracks. In fact, in recent years more and more record companies are using the streaming video platform to launch new singles by singers and groups. From Sony (with its Vevo label) to Warner Music, all are looking to launch their artists' latest album using the showcase that the platform offers. For music fans, you can turn YouTube into a music player. Here's how to do it.
YouTube Mix
To listen to the songs of your favorite singer, YouTube offers the Mix feature: a collection of the artist's best videos that start without any kind of interruption, as if you were listening to a music CD. To use the feature, just press, on the right column, the first of the videos recommended by YouTube. This will activate YouTube Mix and the movies will start one after the other. Very often it can happen that in the selection there are music videos of artists belonging to the same musical genre.
Another way to use YouTube Mix is to enter the name of the artist in the search bar and click on one of the first results shown by the platform.
Finally, you can choose what to listen to by entering the section dedicated to trends or choosing a precise musical genre (rock, alternative rock, hip hop).
Third-party extensions and applications
You can turn YouTube into a music player by using browser extensions or software developed by third parties.
Playtube is an add-on available for Chrome that allows you to build your own playlist using YouTube videos directly. When you find a movie clip with a song by your favorite artist, you can add it to the playlist and listen to it directly through the extension.
The Parade is a web app that gives you the ability to search for songs by singers and bands on YouTube, SoundCloud and Last.fm. You can search by artist as well as by music genre.
If you're looking for a functional web app with great graphics, StreamSquid is your best bet. If you're familiar with Spotify, you'll have no problem using it. You'll be able to choose your favorite music genre from the various categories on the home page, and YouTube videos will automatically play. This is a very well-made web app, very useful especially for those who want to experiment with new music genres.