Google Assistant is broadening support for listening on YouTube. The free, ad-supported tier of YouTube Music can now be requested from any device running the voice platform, including the Google Home smart speaker line. This rollout is happening in 16 markets: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, and Austria. More nations will receive access in the future.

The launch joins the paid subscription version of YouTube Music Premium. Free listeners can opt to upgrade their access while listening on a Google Assistant-enabled device. Although listening to the free tier of YouTube Music faces the same limitation as on other hardware, such as no on-demand song selections, it does essentially give an option for background listening; on mobile, the YouTube app needs to be visible with the screen on in order to play.