Google assistant will no longer play music based off an artist

[winterwolfes]

About a week ago, Google assistant stopped playing artist based radio mixes on YouTube music. We could always say "Hey Google play music like [artist name]" and it would then play music similar to that artist on YouTube music. A week ago the response changed to "OK playing a YouTube playlist called [artist name]." Instead of playing the artist based radio mix on YouTube Music, it goes out onto YouTube and finds a playlist of that artist and plays that instead. It does this on my phone and all my home speakers. We've completely lost the ability to ask it to play similar music. This is a huge loss in functionality. We use this everyday in our cars and home. Is there a fix??

[Naes]

This has happened to me since I subscribed to YouTube premium. It seems like a downgrade. When I say, "Play ____ radio," it will play only the songs I own, not a mix based on the artist. What command do I use to do the latter?

[winterwolfes]

I've had Google's music service for years. I had it when it was Google Play Music and now as Youtube Music. Up until last week we could say "Hey Google, play music like [artist name]" and it would play a mix of music similar to that artist. I have done it all day long for years. Then last week it just stopped working. Now it only will play some random public Youtube playlist that it finds of that artists songs. I'm hoping something is just broken that can be fixed. Because this is the main think I use all my google home speakers for and how I listen to music in my car. 

[Juni]

Hi folks,

Thanks for posting here in the Google Nest Community.

I’m sorry for the trouble this has caused you. Let me help you out. A few things: Is your YouTube music subscription updated? Which Nest speakers are we working with? What steps have you taken so far to fix the issue?

You can both sign out of your YouTube app on your phone and sign back in, then observe if you can request music using your phone's Google Assistant. If it worked on your phone, reboot your Nest speakers to refresh the devices and try the feature again.

Keep me posted.

Regards,

Juni

[winterwolfes]

I uninstalled the updates from both the YouTube Music and YouTube apps. Restarted my phone. Reinstalled the updates. Started the apps and signed back into them and everything is working again. I can now tell google assistant to play music like [artist name] and it is again playing a radio mix based on that artist. It is working on all my devices again. 

So if you have this problem, just uninstall and reinstall all the updates!

[winterwolfes]

So this afternoon, I did what I said before, I uninstalled all the updates and reinstalled them. Everything worked perfectly. And now, it is not again. For an hour or so, I was able to ask google assistant to "Play music like [artist name]." And it would again play a mix of similar music. Just now I went to show my wife how I fixed it, and when I told google assistant to do that, it returned a public play list of music by that artist again. I uninstalled and reinstalled the updates again, and it still doesn't work. I don't get it. Is this because of the Youtube music update allowing you to create your own radio stations? If so, that sucks!

[Princesss]

Hi winterwolfes,

Thanks for the steps you've shared. By any chance, do you have any Google Nest speakers? Do you encounter the same thing when you use Google Nest speakers?

Best,

Princess

[winterwolfes]

Hi princess.. yes, I have Google home speakers, minis, and a home max, and it's the same issue when I ask the speakers to play music like an artist. 

When I installed updates from YouTube music and reinstalled them and it worked again, it worked on my phone and through the speakers. But an hour later, it stopped working on the speakers and my phone again.

[Princesss]

Hi winterwolfes,

Thanks. Do you also have a premium YouTube account? Also, by any chance, are you the only one who uses your YouTube account?

Best,

Princess

[winterwolfes]

Yes we have a premium family account. So we each have our own login. And as far as I know, no one else uses my login information.

[Princesss]

Hi winterwolfes,

Thanks for the info. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information then let me know once done.

Best,

Princess

[winterwolfes]

I filled it out. Though last night this changed again. Now if I say "Hey Google play [artist name] Radio", then it now will play the Youtube music radio station based on that artist. But still if you say "Hey Google play music like [artist name]" it goes and gets a public Youtube playlist of the artist and plays it. So I guess it works again. In troubleshooting this last week, I had tried several times to ask it that way and it still didn't work but now it does. It is weird we can't tell it to play music like an artist like we always used too, but I guess now it works if we specifically ask for an artist radio.

[Juni]

Hi winterwolfes, 

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. It's good to know that it is working now. I’ll keep this thread open for 3 more days. If you still need our help, Please let us know, as we would be glad to help.

Regards,

Juni

[winterwolfes]

I guess technically it works, but not really. Google Assistant definitely got dumber when it comes to this particular function. Instead of being able to ask it to play similar music to something, I now have to ask in a very specific way for it to play an artist radio and even then this only works half the time. Sometimes I have to ask it like 3 or 4 times for it to play the radio mix instead of a public youtube playlist. It is really disappointing. It is pretty basic functionality between google assistant and YouTube music that worked correctly for years. So it is strange that it is now broken somehow. If I am telling it to play music like an artist, why is it now going out on to youtube to find a public playlist of that artist rather than playing the artist radio mix? It doesn't even make sense. 

[Juni]

Hi there,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. It seems like our support team has already reached you. Please continue the conversation there to assist you further, as this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Thanks,

Juni