Podcasts on YouTube Music are finally here. The new feature is gradually rolling out to users in the US, the company announced on Thursday via a YouTube Community post. All Android and iOS users should receive this update within the next few days.
YouTube Music has been working on adding support for podcasts for a few months now. The company confirmed the plans in February this year. Subsequently, it was spotted making necessary tweaks to the app behind the scenes to make room for the new feature. Yesterday, it officially rolled out podcasts to YouTube Music users in the US.
According to the official announcement, YouTube Music will host audio versions of all podcasts that are already available on the main YouTube app. You can seamlessly switch between the two apps for audio and video versions of a podcast, similar to how you can transition between music and music videos. The Music app will offer podcasts on-demand, offline, in the background, and while casting.
To listen to a podcast, all you have to do is search with a keyword. You can also tap on the “Podcasts” at the top of the Home tab for unfinished episodes and recommended podcasts. The app lets you filter the shows according to categories such as comedy, business gaming, music, health & fitness, and more. The Explore tab also lets you find new podcasts. The more you listen, the better your personalized recommendations get.
YouTube says the podcast experience on YouTube Music is different from its music experience. The latter requires a Premium or Music Premium subscription to enjoy some features, such as background playback. You do need a Premium subscription for ad-free listening, though. Note that you may still experience host-read endorsements or sponsorship messages in podcasts.
Podcasts in YouTube Music are currently limited to the US
Podcasts are growing in popularity, with all major music streaming services trying to carve out a market for themselves. Google doesn’t want to be left behind in this race. After hosting podcasts in the main YouTube app, it is now bringing this new form of entertainment to its music app as well.
At first, Google is keeping this feature limited to the US. But it plans to expand availability in other markets as well. “For those of you outside the United States, rest assured that we plan to bring podcasts in YouTube Music to other regions in the future!” the company said in its official announcement. We will let you know when the feature rolls out in other markets.
