Who Owns YouTube Music?
YouTube Music is owned by YouTube, which is owned by Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. YouTube Music operates as a service within YouTube's division, and Alphabet is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under ticker GOOGL.
Parent Company
Alphabet Inc.
Founded
2015
Status
Publicly Traded
Headquarters
San Bruno, California, USA
Who Owns YouTube Music?
- Parent Company: Alphabet Inc.
- Ownership Type: Service division
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock Ticker: NASDAQ: GOOGL
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube Music | Alphabet Inc. | Service division |
History of YouTube Music
- Founded: 2015
- Founders: YouTube (Google) (internal development)
YouTube Music's history is intertwined with YouTube's broader evolution as a music platform. From its earliest days after launching in 2005, YouTube became a major destination for music consumption, with users uploading and watching music videos, live performances, and covers. By the early 2010s, YouTube had become the world's most popular music streaming platform by listening hours, even though it was not designed primarily as a music service.
Google recognized the opportunity to formalize YouTube's role in music and launched the first version of YouTube Music in November 2015. This initial version was relatively basic, offering a music-focused interface on top of YouTube's existing content library. The service offered a free, ad-supported tier and a premium subscription (YouTube Music Key) that removed ads and enabled background playback on mobile devices.
In parallel, Google had been operating Google Play Music, a separate music streaming and locker service launched in 2011. Google Play Music allowed users to upload their personal music libraries and stream music from Google's catalog. The coexistence of YouTube Music and Google Play Music created confusion for users and internal competition within Google.
In 2018, Google made a strategic decision to consolidate its music services around YouTube Music. The service underwent a major redesign and relaunch in May 2018, introducing a completely new interface, significantly improved music discovery and recommendation features, and better integration with YouTube's main platform. The relaunched YouTube Music was positioned as Google's primary music streaming service.
Google announced in 2020 that Google Play Music would be shut down and replaced by YouTube Music. The migration was completed by December 2020, with Google Play Music users transferred to YouTube Music. This consolidation gave YouTube Music a larger user base but also required significant work to match Google Play Music's features, particularly the music locker functionality that allowed users to upload their personal music collections.
YouTube Music has continued to evolve since the consolidation, adding features including lyrics display, podcast support (in some markets), improved offline functionality, and integration with Google's AI capabilities for music discovery and recommendation. The service is bundled with YouTube Premium, which also removes ads from the main YouTube platform.
About Alphabet Inc.
What does Alphabet own?
Alphabet owns Google and its products including Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Cloud, Google Workspace, Pixel hardware, and Nest. It also owns Waymo, Verily, and other early-stage ventures under the Other Bets umbrella. The Gemini AI platform is developed by Google DeepMind, an Alphabet subsidiary.
Is Alphabet publicly traded?
Yes. Alphabet trades on NASDAQ under GOOGL (Class A, one vote per share) and GOOG (Class C, no votes). The company has been publicly traded since Google's IPO in August 2004.
Who founded Alphabet?
Alphabet was formed in 2015 through a restructuring of Google, which was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. Sundar Pichai has served as CEO of both Alphabet and Google since December 2019.
Where is Alphabet headquartered?
Alphabet is headquartered in Mountain View, California, at the Googleplex campus. The company has major offices in New York, London, Dublin, Singapore, and dozens of other cities globally.
Who owns Alphabet?
Alphabet has no single controlling shareholder economically, but co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hold Class B shares with 10 votes per share, giving them effective voting control. Institutional investors including Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street are among the largest economic shareholders.
What is Alphabet's revenue?
Alphabet reported full-year 2025 revenues exceeding $400 billion for the first time. Q4 2025 revenue was $113.8 billion, up 18% year over year, with net income of $34.46 billion. Google Cloud Q4 2025 revenue was $17.66 billion, up 48% year over year.
What antitrust cases is Google facing?
In August 2024, a U.S. federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized internet search through exclusive default search agreements. Remedies proceedings were ongoing as of February 2026. A separate DOJ case targeting Google's advertising technology business concluded trial in late 2024. The EU has imposed multiple antitrust fines and the Digital Markets Act imposes ongoing obligations on Google as a designated gatekeeper.
What is Waymo?
Waymo is Alphabet's autonomous vehicle subsidiary, operating a fully driverless ride-hailing service in multiple U.S. cities. Waymo completed over 20 million fully autonomous trips through 2025 and expanded to Miami in January 2026. Waymo raised a funding round in 2025 at a $16 billion valuation.
- Founded: 2015
- Headquarters: Mountain View, California, USA
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock: NASDAQ: GOOGL
Where Is YouTube Music Made / Based?
- Headquarters: San Bruno, California, USA
- Manufacturing / Operations: United States, Ireland, Singapore, Japan
Brands Owned by Alphabet Inc.
- Android - Mobile operating system developed by Google, powering billions of smartphones, t...
- Google Chrome - Cross-platform web browser developed by Google, featuring speed, security, and e...
- Gmail - Free web-based email service developed by Google, offering email storage, spam f...
- Google Cloud - Cloud computing and enterprise services platform providing infrastructure, data ...
- Google Maps - Digital mapping and navigation service providing maps, directions, and location-...
- Google Pixel - Line of consumer electronic devices including smartphones developed by Google, f...
- Google Workspace - Cloud-based productivity and collaboration suite providing email, documents, and...
- Google - American search engine and technology company, flagship product of Alphabet Inc....
- Nest - American smart home technology company providing connected home devices and serv...
- Waymo - American autonomous driving technology company developing self-driving car techn...
YouTube Music Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Access to YouTube's massive library of music videos and live performances
- +Strong recommendation algorithms powered by Google's AI expertise
- +Integration with Google ecosystem including Google Assistant and Android
- +Large free tier supported by advertising
- +Unique content including covers, remixes, and live performances not available elsewhere
Considerations
- -Interface and user experience sometimes less polished than dedicated music apps
- -Audio quality can vary depending on source video quality
- -Dependence on YouTube's content policies and copyright enforcement
- -Competition from established players with more music-focused features
- -Need to balance video content with pure audio streaming experience
Frequently Asked Questions About YouTube Music
Where to Buy
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YouTube Music on AmazonCompetitors to YouTube Music
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because YouTube Musicoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
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