Youtube has disclosed that podcasts would be added to Youtube music, soon.
YouTube podcasting head Kai Chuk announced this on Thursday.
“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,” a Youtube spokesperson told TechCrunch
“This will help make the podcasts that users already love on YouTube, available in all the places they want to listen.”
Free background listening will be offered, ensuring that your show won’t be interrupted even if you lock your phone while listening.
The free service will, however, be ad-supported.
This information, which was released at the Hot Pod Summit, comes in the wake of recent enhancements to YouTube features including multilingual audio dubbing for videos and personalized radio stations on YouTube Music.
YouTube isn’t particularly interested in establishing exclusive arrangements with podcasters, which has been a significant tactic at Spotify, according to sources from the event.
According to reports, YouTube also intends to combine the audio and video listening experiences for podcasts, allowing users to flip between the two in the middle of an episode to listen on the go.
This user experience might lessen friction, but it’s important to keep in mind that not all audio and video podcasts can be converted with ease.
But, the YouTube Studio will give artists access to podcasting tools, making it simpler to turn videos into podcasts.
Creators will be able to post podcasts through RSS feeds straight to the platform later this year, YouTube informed TechCrunch.
YouTube Music and YouTube Premium had more than 80 million subscribers as of November, including users who are on free trials. With more than 205 million customers, Spotify still commands the greatest market share in paid music streaming.