Google Home speakers and displays are a great way to catch up on news or put on music, especially when you’re cooking or otherwise have your hands full.
Several music streaming services, including Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, work with Google smart speakers, letting you request your favorite artist or playlist via voice command.
Some of these services work better than others, though. The last thing you want is for your kid to request the “Wicked” soundtrack only to get someone’s explicit “Wicked playlist.”
In some cases, the paid version offers a much better experience than the free one.
To find the best music streaming service for Google Home, I used my smart display to test all the available options.
I looked at both their music catalogs and how well they responded to requests to play a variety of songs and podcasts.
If one music app did everything right, it would look like this
This is what music streaming could be if no corners were cut
Play that song
Here’s the (admittedly indie-rock-heavy) list
I searched for the same songs across all services during my test. Here’s the list below:
|
Song |
Spotify |
YouTube Music |
Apple Music |
Amazon Music |
Tidal |
Qobuz |
Deezer |
iHeartRadio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
“It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop” — Frightened Rabbit |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
“Meet Me at the Swings” — Transmittens |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
“Pure Imagination” — Jolie Holland |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
“Uskudar” — A Hawk And A Hacksaw |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
“An Apple for an Apple” — Miles Kurosky |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
“Watch the World Cave In” — The New Amsterdams |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
“See You on the Moon” — Great Lake Swimmers |
No |
Live version only |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
“Les Petits Parcours” — Doggy |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Number of songs out of 8 |
2 |
6.5 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
After numerous tests, here’s what I found out.
The best music selection: YouTube Music
Videos add a great visual component to playlists
For those whose musical tastes fall outside the mainstream, it can be hard to find every song you love.
I made a list of eight songs and searched across eight streaming services. Only one had nearly everything: YouTube Music.
It had 6.5 of the songs (the half point is because it only had a live version of one), and no other platform came even close. (You can see the full list of songs below.)
Granted, these are from my own indie-rock-heavy catalog, so other genres may not fare as well.
However, the service can be a mixed bag when it comes to playing exactly what you want.
When I asked my Google Home device to play the band Waxahatchee on YouTube Music, it complied. However, it gave me a random playlist when I asked for the band Habibi.
Trying to play podcasts through the device didn’t always work, either.
Sometimes it would bring up clips of a show, until I asked for the latest episode. Other times, it would bring up a completely different podcast.
The free version of the service played an ad before almost every song I requested.
Lots of the songs were accompanied by videos on my display, while others, like a peaceful classical playlist, just had a still image.
When I tried to use YouTube Music on my screenless Google Home device, it told me that choosing songs is only available to Premium members.
The best for actually getting the song you requested: Apple Music
You rarely need to repeat yourself with Apple Music
A few months ago, I transferred my Spotify playlists to Apple Music. Overall, it has a robust selection, although several playlists were missing a song or two.
The best thing about using Apple Music with Google Home is its responsiveness.
Whether I asked to listen to Waxahatchee or KPop Demon Hunters, my device delivered. It easily brought up playlists I’d made or presets from Apple.
With other services, I would often have to try a second time and ask for a specific song or put “the band” in front of the group’s name, “The Linda Lindas,” for example.
This happened far less frequently with Apple Music, making it the most seamless experience I tried.
The only area where it really struggled was podcasts. I tried both “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” and “What Should I Read Next,” and Google Home didn’t even try to find them on Apple Music.
The best for podcasts: Spotify
The least frustrating way to play podcasts on Google Home
Spotify on Google Home didn’t always take advantage of its vast catalog.
Instead of playing Waxahatchee, whom I’ve listened to many times on Spotify, my device simply opened whatever I’d recently been playing.
As with YouTube, Google smart speakers will say that you can’t choose songs with the free version of Spotify.
Podcasts were a different story with a premium account. The only show I tried that my device said it couldn’t play was “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” Everything else was fine.
When I asked to play any podcast, from “Morally Corrupt” to “Articles of Interest,” my device did so through Spotify, even when my default service was set to Apple Music.
You may have to use your Google Assistant app, instead of your Google Home app, to link and unlink music services and to change your default provider.
Amazon Music, Pandora, Deezer, and iHeartRadio can also link to Google Home
They have some drawbacks
These are the other services you can link through Google Assistant. Each one had drawbacks that made using them on Google Home frustrating.
Amazon Music has a good selection, but it only gave me the song I wanted when I asked for KPop Demon Hunters and classical music.
When I asked for Waxahatchee, my device said, “Playing on Amazon Music,” but it brought up Taylor Swift.
It also didn’t display the musician, so I had to guess who it was by the album cover if it played a song I didn’t know.
Pandora’s free version seemed to have a mind of its own, playing anything it pleased (the “Little Miss Sunshine” soundtrack, a Sia playlist) instead of what I wanted.
Deezer and iHeartRadio handled basic requests, but my device would sometimes tell me it didn’t understand me when I tried using both services. (Deezer’s premium version also isn’t fully available in the US.)
You can still use Tidal, Qobuz, and other streaming services
Just not as seamlessly as the linked services
For those who have a favorite music app that doesn’t link with Google Home, you should be able to use it over Bluetooth after you pair your phone.
It won’t let you ask your speaker to play “Soda Pop” on Tidal via voice command, so you’ll need to keep your phone handy.
Listening to music on Google Home comes at a premium
The best options delivered the exact song or artist I asked for with a simple voice command, which is the whole point of a smart speaker in the first place.
No matter what music service you pair with your smart speaker, you’ll almost certainly want the paid version. In most cases, the free service gave me little control over what it played.
