Google is combining its musical product teams

Google is combining some of its separate music teams in a move that could signal changes for its many products down the line. The groups working on YouTube Music and Google Play Music are being joined. “Music is very important to Google and we’re evaluating how to bring together our music offerings to deliver the best possible product for our users, music partners and artists,” a Google rep said of the restructuring. “Nothing will change for users today and we’ll provide plenty of notice before any changes are made.”

The tech company’s music offerings have felt a bit scattered for some time, with several separate services under the YouTube and Google banners. YouTube Red and Google Play Music are already linked in a single subscription, so the combination behind the scenes could see those become more closely entwined. The unification would possibly clean up the disparate features and branded properties into a single music service. Given the heavy amount of competition in the streaming music industry, it would seem reasonable for Google to consolidate its ideas into a single, stronger entity.