What you have to know
- After shutting down Google Podcasts for good, Google shared an interview with YouTube’s chief product officer to debate the way forward for podcasts on YouTube Music.
- YouTube Music desires to grow to be the “final vacation spot” for podcasts, each for creators and listeners.
- Sadly, the interview didn’t embody a lot to handle issues podcast customers have with YouTube Music, such because the absence of core options like new episode notifications.
Whether or not we prefer it or not, YouTube Music is the way forward for podcast internet hosting at Google. With the corporate shutting down Google Podcasts as soon as and for all earlier this month, YouTube Music is Google’s focus transferring ahead. In an interview printed by YouTube, the platform’s Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich defined the plan “to make YouTube Music the last word vacation spot for podcasters and followers alike.”
Regardless of podcasts being an audio-first medium, YouTube desires to lean into what it does greatest: video. YouTube says it has made adjustments to the YouTube Music app to raised help audio-centric content material, however it provides that video can present further worth to a podcast. “The second manner we take into consideration podcasts is [as an] eyes-optional expertise,” Voolich stated. “So, stuff that is nice to listen to and hearken to, but in addition could be nice to look at as properly.”
Voolich emphasised the likelihood for customers to start out listening to a podcast and end it by watching the video model or vice versa.
Once more, leaning into its strengths, YouTube thinks the platform’s expertise in constructing algorithms will come in useful when serving urged podcasts to customers. “YouTube’s secret sauce is our suggestions,” stated YouTube Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie in a weblog publish. “They assist individuals uncover one thing new or go deeper on what they love, whereas serving to podcasters attain new audiences solely discovered on YouTube.”
Other than the everyday options supplied by YouTube, Voolich emphasised the adjustments which have been made to YouTube Music particularly for the good thing about podcasters and listeners. “We have rolled out a number of new options together with help for third-party RSS podcasts, updates to the Android Auto expertise for straightforward in-car listening, enhanced obtain choices, and customizable playlist sorting,” the weblog publish added.
Nonetheless, the interview did not tackle among the main issues that YouTube Music customers have had with having fun with podcasts on the platform. There have been few clear mentions of the platform’s future plans, with the one notable one being that YouTube Music is just not planning to help RSS out feeds anytime quickly.
“Over the previous 12 months, we have been working to construct in all the conventional podcasting options to YouTube Music,” Voolich stated. “The very first thing we did was really simply pull in podcast content material, however then additionally conventional issues like with the ability to play in a sequence, proceed watching, [and] have a shelf for discovery.”
There seems to nonetheless be a protracted approach to go for YouTube Music. The platform nonetheless lacks important podcast options, equivalent to new episode notifications and mark-as-played indicators. Presumably, these options are coming, however this interview would not give us a lot when it comes to a concrete roadmap as to once we can anticipate them.
