Ever since Google moved Google Play Music users over to YouTube Music, there have been mixed reactions.

Those who dislike it have plenty of reasons. One of them is the missing cast button in the desktop version of YouTube Music.

As a result, plenty of users have taken this issue to the official YouTube Music forums.

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Am I crazy or is there no “Cast” button on YT Music’s website? I can use the Cast extension within Chrome to cast it, but the button isn’t natively supported?
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Fix this as this is a deal breaker – I am paying for YouTube premium and have Google Home speakers but can’t cast from my laptop? I will cancel and switch to a different provider if this is not fixed soon.
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As apparent from the above complaints, a dedicated cast button is missing on the YouTube Music site, which is causing users issues if they want to cast their music to devices like TVs and speakers via desktop.

This feature was initially limited to premium users only. It was only recently that it was made free for everyone. That is, omitting the desktop users, since the feature is completely missing on the desktop site.

It is a bit odd that YouTube decided to miss this feature on their site whilst keeping it on the mobile app. Another thing to note here is that the now deprecated Google Play Music had this essential feature.

Workarounds for the YouTube Music missing cast button issue

Workaround #1: If you are a Google Chrome user, then worry not as there is another way to cast.

youtube-music-chrome-cast-button
Chrome desktop cast feature

This feature casts the entire tab onto a supported device. Perhaps, users cannot find this feature due to its discreet placement inside a menu.

This option seems to be missing on other browsers though. Users are advised to use Chrome for the time being to make use of this feature.

Workaround #2: Non-Chrome users can also give the main YouTube site a go. It has a dedicated cast button.

Workaround #3: Apple users can try the following:

Had the same issue. One solution is on a Mac at least, go into settings and change the audio output through the Apple TV box. to the TV. It’s a hassle to switch it back, but it worked.
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Other issues

However, users who are already aware of the above-mentioned feature (casting via Chrome) say that it is far from perfect.

You can cast the tab but the quality is awful. Constant skipping makes it unlistenable. A native cast button for the YouTube music page is a must.
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This is basic functionality for a music streaming service. I’ve been using this on Google Play Music for years. I know we can use the “cast tabs” options, but that just gives us a really bad interface, low quality audio, dropouts and stuttering. None of which are problem on real casting like GPM uses. This is not an optional feature. FIX THIS ASAP.
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There are reports of stuttering, low quality audio output, and an overall bad user experience. Hopefully Google will pull their socks up, and address the YouTube Music missing cast button issue along with the related problems soon.

That being said, be sure to check out our similar story on YouTube Music, about the extra long duration of loading songs from local storage here.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Zohaib Ahmed
824 Posts

Simply love being surrounded by technology as it's a constant reminder of how far humans have advanced as a race. Every new development feels exciting, which I convey to others through writing. And after a day's work, gaming just feels therapeutic.

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