Discord tests YouTube integration following music bot crackdown

Discord has started testing a feature called Watch Together that allows users to create playlists of YouTube videos they can then watch directly on the chat platform. First spotted by The Verge, the feature is only available to friends and family servers at the moment. However, the company reportedly plans to roll it out to the broader Discord community by the end of October. Users can add a video to the server queue either by searching directly through the included interface or pasting a link from YouTube.

Discord didn’t have much to say about the test when we reached out to the company. “As a company founded in innovation, we’re always experimenting and building things we believe our users will enjoy,” a Discord spokesperson told Engadget. “We don’t have anything more to share right now, but stay tuned.”

However, the integration comes just weeks after YouTube sent cease and desist letters to Groovy Bot and Rythm, two of the most popular tools for playing music from YouTube, Spotify and other streaming services directly over Discord. The move forced both apps to shut down. As The Verge points out, the company tested a feature similar to Watch Together toward the start of the year, but ended up shelving it temporarily before bringing it back this week. The company appears to have reprioritized development on the feature following the shutdown of Groovy Bot and Rythm.