Youtube Music Logo PNG
Press and listen, demands the pulsating YouTube Music logo. The emblem promises exciting rhythms, loud sounds, hot emotions, and a stream of tracks that will not leave any listener indifferent.
YouTube Music: Brand overview
YouTube Music grew out of Google’s long struggle to organize its music services. In November 2014, YouTube launched Music Key, a paid service with background playback, offline listening, and no ads, tied closely to Google Play Music.
In October 2015, Music Key became YouTube Red, expanding beyond music to ad-free YouTube, original creator content, and mobile background playback. On November 12, 2015, the separate YouTube Music app launched for users who already treated YouTube as a music platform, with videos, live recordings, covers, and official tracks.
The first version lacked the depth of Spotify and Apple Music. In September 2016, Google hired Lyor Cohen, a former Def Jam and Warner Music Group executive, to improve relations with labels and reposition YouTube inside the music industry.
On May 17, 2018, YouTube announced a rebuilt YouTube Music with a web player, redesigned mobile app, Google-based recommendations, and search by lyrics or descriptions. That same month, YouTube Red was renamed YouTube Premium. In June 2018, the new YouTube Music launched in 17 countries, including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, and Germany. In 2019, it arrived on Google Assistant speakers. It became the default music app on new Android devices, replacing Google Play Music.
In August 2020, Google confirmed that Google Play Music would close by December, leaving YouTube Music as its sole music service. By October 2020, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium had passed 30 million paid subscribers, while Spotify had about 138 million and Apple Music around 70 million. In July 2024, YouTube Music became available in Tesla cars.
Meaning and History
The launch of YouTube Music took place in parallel with the release of YouTube Red, which covers the entire YouTube platform, including the music direction. However, over time, the application became a standalone service, as it was very popular. Google became interested in him because his service with a similar subject matter, Google Play Music, with a subscription service, was not as in demand as the YouTube channel, whose coverage reached almost 100 countries.
In May 2018, an updated version of the music service appeared for stationary devices and mobile gadgets. Applications have undergone a major transformation: a dynamic recommendation grid has appeared that considers various factors. Artificial intelligence (Google technology) was connected to search for tracks based on their lyrics and descriptions.
Also, the service began offering standalone subscriptions with streaming audio and video content without ads. There is also a download option for offline music playback. In 2018, the service signed contracts with sponsors under which it became a partner of several TV programs. Today, the famous play button icon is known all over the world. True, in different regions, it is designated differently. In Europe and the former CIS countries, it is round; in the United States, it is rectangular.
What is YouTube Music?
YouTube Music is a service for listening to music and watching music videos on YouTube. It is available on tablets, smartphones, and computers. It has two versions: free (with ads) and paid (without ads, with the ability to download tracks). The app first appeared in 2015 and is currently owned by Google.
2015 – 2017
The main logo consisted of two fragments: “YouTube” and “Music.” The first word contained uppercase and lowercase letters; the second was executed in uppercase characters. Moreover, the font in each case was different. The text was placed on one line. The “Tube” part was in a small, red, rounded rectangle. The word “Music” was separated from the base fragment and placed at a distance. It used wide, grotesque letters with strict lines. The “M” had pointed ends, while the rest of the characters were smooth.
There was also an icon in the form of a circular element resembling a vinyl record. In the center of the red circle, a white triangle was drawn, denoting the function that starts the player. From it, two stripes diverged diagonally, forming a lighter space. It resembled a radar in shape.
2017 – 2019
When updating the platform, the creators corrected the emblem’s appearance. They unified the font, so both parts got the same spelling. Also, the designers removed the word “Tube” from the rectangular play button and placed it next to “You” and “Music,” which moved closer to them and were grayed out.
The developers also proposed a shortened version of the logo, with only a red rectangular badge and the word “Music.” But in this case, it was not ashy, but black. The icon was also changed: it no longer resembled a vinyl record, but was now completely red, with a white ring and a triangle in the center.
2019 – today
The redesign brought some minor changes, so both the logo and the icon look the same. The corrections affected only the color of the inscription: in the current version, the entire text is black and lacks visual separation into fragments.
The evolution of YouTube Music’s identity has gone through several stages. The typeface was changed first, with which the inscriptions were made, and the retro element, reminiscent of the musical past, was removed. The authors replaced the vinyl record icon with a double red circle, leaving only the triangular button for playing records in the middle. The following changes were minor and did not affect the channel’s concept. However, note that different icon types are used in different regions. In Europe and the former CIS, the logo features a round play button; in the USA, it features a rectangular one.
Font and Colors
For the music service, the designers used two types of typefaces. The only thing they have in common is the lack of serifs. Otherwise, there are many differences between them. For the word “YouTube,” the authors used their version based on Alternate Gothic FS # 2, and for “Music,” they chose Euclid Flex. So it was in the first emblem. In the second, the fonts were unified, replacing everything with a personal design typeface, obtained in collaboration with the Saffron agency. It is called YouTube Sans.
Although the color gamut is stable, it has not escaped changes either. For example, “Music” was first black, then gray, and then repainted black again. But the dominant shade was always the same: red, saturated, shifted toward the scarlet spectrum.