Album and playlist pages in YouTube Music now open with cover art that fills the top third of the screen for some users.
The change has surfaced more Reddit posts from users who got the new layout, though it looks like a server-side A/B test rather than an app update anyone can download.
The server-side switch allows Google to enable design for a small subset of accounts and gauge response. This rollout method is used regularly by the company before rolling out interface changes to its wider user base.
On album pages, a full-width background built from artwork replaces the old drop-in header, and follows the same treatment that YouTube Music already has for artist landing pages, which have been using large header images for some time.
Below the album summary, the action bar is now divided into two sections, with circular shortcuts for offline downloads and library saves on the left, and a larger Play button on the right.
The split layout groups the most common actions and gives clear visual priority to playback. This approach has long been taken by rival services like Spotify with their own prominent Play controls.
The playlist pages get the same graphic approach, with the composite cover made up of multiple album thumbnails now running across the top of the display instead of the smaller bordered version.
Below the header, a note button joins download and library shortcuts on the left side of the split action bar, while a large Play button anchors it again on the right.
A dedicated mixer button takes the place of the previously occupied overflow menu, and Google has moved the menu to the top of the header, away from the main playback controls.
The playlist and album changes follow YouTube Music’s previous experiments with a split-screen Now Playing layout and expanded, full-screen album art, which together hint at a broader redesign that’s taking shape in stages.
Google hasn’t confirmed when the new album and playlist layouts will roll out to all users of the streaming service, and the design remains limited to a small group of accounts while server-side testing continues.
