The YouTube Music app offers a simple way to listen to songs: just search for the desired song and press play. However, within the app there are a number of tools and features that many users may not notice. Some of these features are located in lists or settings that are not easily accessible, while others may go unnoticed during daily use of the app. If you want to get more out of YouTube Music, here are 5 useful features you might not know about.

Sharing songs from a specific time

Sometimes you may want to share a song with a friend but don’t want them to have to listen to the whole thing in order to reach a certain part. YouTube Music allows you to share a specific time stamp, which works similarly to how it does on YouTube. When sharing the song this way, the recipient will be able to open the link and start playing directly from the point you specified.

To take advantage of this feature, first play the song then go to the section you want to share and pause it. Next, press the share icon in the top menu bar, then activate the Timestamp option at the top of the sharing window. You can then send the link directly through available apps or select Copy link to copy it and share it however you prefer. If the recipient is using YouTube Music, the song will start playing from the specified time stamp. If they don’t have the app installed, the link will open in their web browser.

Sharing Song Lyrics on Social Media

The sharing capabilities of YouTube Music go beyond just sending a song link. You can also share a portion of the song's lyrics in a ready-to-share image. Start by playing the song, then open the Lyrics section and click Share. Next, select the lyrics you want to share; you can choose up to 5 consecutive lines.

Click Next, then choose a background color from the available options before clicking Share. You can send the image directly to a social media app or select "Share with other apps" to share it through another app. Alternatively, you can choose "Save image" to save it to your phone. However, note that displaying song lyrics is sometimes included in YouTube Music's paid features. Therefore, free users may find that the lyrics for some songs are not available. Additionally, some songs do not have lyrics at all.

Find a Song by humming

Have you ever heard a song somewhere and not known its name? YouTube Music has a hidden feature called Sound Search that helps you find it by humming or singing. To activate it, open the YouTube Music app and go to the Search tab. Then, click on the sound waves icon next to the microphone symbol.

The app will ask for permission to access the microphone, and after you agree, you can start humming or singing the part of the song that you remember. YouTube Music will then display a list of songs that match the melody, along with a matching percentage for each result. You can play through the results to confirm which song you were looking for.

If the song you want to identify is already playing near you, you can simply turn on Sound Search and let the app listen to it. This is usually faster than humming, and the app may be able to identify the song in just a few seconds. Once the song is found, you can play it directly or add it to your Liked Music, save it to an existing playlist, or create a new one.

Transfer Spotify Playlists to YouTube Music

If you’re switching from Spotify to YouTube Music, rebuilding old playlists can be a hassle, especially if you have long lists for different occasions. However, YouTube Music, at least for Premium subscribers, allows you to transfer playlists from Spotify using the TuneMyMusic service.

To access this feature, open your profile picture within the app and go to Settings > Privacy & data. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find the option Transfer playlists from other apps. Select Spotify, and a browser page will open. Click Let's start, then agree to link TuneMyMusic with your Spotify account after logging in if required.

After that, select the playlists you want to transfer. You can change the name of any playlist if you wish, then click Transfer to YouTube Music. Select your YouTube Music account and allow the required permissions. Wait for the transfer process to complete, which will take a different amount of time depending on how many songs are in your library. Once it is finished, the playlists will appear inside the YouTube Music library, where you can edit them like any other playlist.

The service isn’t limited to Spotify; it also supports other platforms such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and SoundCloud.

Search for songs using emojis

One of the strange and fun features of YouTube Music is that you can use emojis instead of words to search for songs. You can write one or a group of emojis in the search bar, and the app will try to understand their meaning and use them to find the appropriate songs.

For example, if you use a birthday cake emoji, YouTube Music may display songs related to birthdays. Using a child emoji could result in lists of lullaby songs appearing. Combining pumpkin and candy emojis might lead to results related to Halloween.

The results will vary depending on the emojis used, so you can try out the symbols on your phone’s keyboard and discover what types of songs they suggest.

5 Small Tools That Make YouTube Music More Useful

These features may not be what drives users to choose YouTube Music, but they can make the daily experience more flexible. You can share a song from a specific time, turn its lyrics into shareable images, find a song by humming it, move playlists from other services, and even search for music using emojis.

These tools reveal that YouTube Music offers much more than just playing and searching for songs. However, some of them are hidden within lists and settings, making their discovery the first step to taking advantage of them.