Update To YouTube Music App’s Code Suggests Increased Focus On Recommendations

When new versions of YouTube apps arrive on the Google Play store, publications like 9 to 5 Google dig into the app’s APK to predict what sort of updates users can expect based on changes in the underlying code. 9 to 5 Google latest “APK Insight” has arrived, and it includes a particularly interesting note: YouTube Music’s “stations” might be rebranded to “recommendations” as YouTube gets set to launch a new music product, tentatively titled Remix.

9 to 5 Google pointed to two places in the YouTube Music APK where the word “stations” has been changed to “recommendations.” The change seems cosmetic more than anything else, but combined with previous info, it allows us to hypothesize how YouTube might plan to sell its new music product. At SXSW, YouTube Head of Music Lyor Cohen 

(pictured above) said that one of  Remix’s advantages would be its ability to incorporate Google’s powerful recommendation algorithm into its design.“Did you know that 80 percent of all of watch time on YouTube is recommended by a recommendation engine?” he asked the crowd.

Algorithms have gotten YouTube into trouble in the past, but the video site’s recommendation engine is certainly powerful enough to give Remix an edge over competitors. We don’t know yet when we’ll see what strategy YouTube implements for Remix; the music service doesn’t yet have an official release date.