YouTube Music allows users to generate AI art to set as playlist thumbnails. However, it doesn"t yet offer the option to upload a custom image for playlists. The video streaming platform, YouTube, allows that and it appears to be gradually rolling out for YouTube Music users as well.
A YouTube Music user on Reddit by the name SimSamurai13 shared a video of the audio streaming platform that now has a new option to upload custom playlist thumbnails. The user spotted a new pencil icon in the bottom-right corner of the artwork when viewing a playlist on the web version of YouTube Music.
Tapping on the pencil icon gives you two options: "Choose from library" and "Remove custom image." When a user selects the "Choose from library" option, it lets them select an image from their PCs and then adjust the image by cropping it to fit as a thumbnail. When done, the playlist page takes a few seconds to update the thumbnail with the background also refreshing.
While generating AI artwork and setting it as a YouTube Music playlist thumbnail is useful, everyone may not prefer it. If the thumbnail is removed and no AI-generated artwork is used, then YouTube Music defaults to a 2x2 grid of album covers from the playlist. Some people prefer having a personal touch on the playlist they listen to, and the incoming option could be a great addition for them.
As mentioned above, the feature is currently live to a limited number of users and there is no official word from YouTube about this feature rolling out. Moreover, the feature is only live for the web version of the audio streaming platform. For now, it is unclear if the ability to set a custom image as a thumbnail is also available for the Liked Music playlist, since the AI generator doesn"t work there.