Podcasts will soon be available to US users of the ‘YouTube Music’ programme, as per reports.
According to TechCrunch, YouTube’s head of podcasting, Kai Chuk, stated that podcasts would soon be accessible on ‘YouTube Music’.
“If someone wants to watch a podcast, we have a solution,” Kai Chuk said, adding, “If someone wants to listen to a podcast only, we should have a great experience for that as well.”
A YouTube spokeswoman commented, “We will soon start to bring both audio and video-first podcasts to YouTube Music for users in the US, making podcasts more discoverable and accessible, with more regions to come.”
According to the official, “This will help make the podcasts that users already love on YouTube, available in all the places they want to listen.”
She also clarified that contrary to Spotify’s core approach, YouTube is not interested in concluding exclusive agreements with podcasters.
The Google-owned firm, under the leadership of its new CEO Neal Mohan, now aims to merge the audio and video podcast listening experiences, so that users may flip between the two in the middle of an episode while watching a podcast on the video to listen on the go.
Although this user experience might make things easier, it’s crucial to remember that not all podcasts can be converted from video to audio and vice versa.
In late 2023, makers could submit podcasts straight to YouTube using RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication).
Podcasts will be available to all users, free or Premium and free tiers will get the usual ad-supported playback with background audio support. Audio-first shows will too get a special podcast badge to highlight them.
Google is simultaneously introducing a new feature to ‘YouTube Music’ to let users build their personalised stations based on particular artists.
By going to the “Radio Builder” area of the ‘YouTube Music’ homepage in the iOS or Android app, users can use the new “Your music tuner” function.