Originally Posted by plantsower
Yes, assuming I use the Music app. I don't. I get my music off of YouTube. I find my mac more user friendly for things like that so I download what I want and then transfer it to my iPhone.

Originally Posted by joemikeb
Why are you using Air Drop to send the Music to your phone? confused

Assuming it started out in Music on your Mac and both your Mac and iPhone are on the same Apple ID, the tunes should automatically be available in Music on your iPhone. Any tunes I add to My entire music Library can be played on any of my Apple devices, including the HomePods and Apple TV, the only requirement being they must be logged onto the same Apple ID. If I don't want to stream the music from iCloud for some reason, I can always physically download it in Music on the other devices when I have a Wi-Fi connection. The Apple Watch is the only device that requires the tunes to be physically downloaded. It sounds as if you are trying to drive nails with a screwdriver. (pun unintended)

If the YouTube music you download can be played on the Mac or iPhone, then it can be imported to the Music library on the Mac, after which it can be automatically transferred to the iPhone as joemikeb suggests above. That would keep it out of your Photo app.

I might guess that the YouTube music is actually a music video, which is why they are going to the Photo app on your phone. But the Music app on the Mac can import music videos too, so give it a try either way.