You're the PM for one of your favorite products. What is your strategy for the next year?

My strategy for YouTube Music next year would focus on three key pillars: enhancing user engagement, expanding creator opportunities, and driving monetization.

1. Enhance User Engagement: We'll deepen personalization through AI-driven recommendations that go beyond genre, factoring in mood, activity, and even time of day. This includes introducing interactive features like collaborative playlists and live Q&A sessions with artists. We'll also improve the discovery engine to surface emerging artists and niche genres more effectively.
2. Expand Creator Opportunities: To foster a vibrant ecosystem, we'll introduce new tools for artists to connect with fans, such as exclusive content tiers, virtual merchandise, and direct fan tipping. We'll also explore ways to better support independent artists by simplifying the upload process and providing more robust analytics.
3. Drive Monetization: Beyond standard subscriptions, we'll explore premium offerings like high-fidelity audio, exclusive live stream access, and curated artist channels. We'll also look at innovative advertising formats that are less intrusive and more integrated with the user experience, potentially offering ad-free tiers for specific content types.