Google has decided to also offer podcasts in YouTube Music, but Google Podcasts will also continue to exist. As with the existing music offerings, there will also be the option to watch a podcast, if video is available.
Unlike podcasts on YouTube, it will be free for users to access content on the YouTube Music app with the screen off. Content creators who post podcasts on the platform will also be given the option to give their podcasts an icon indicating that the broadcast is suitable for listening only; some podcasts come into their own better with images. Despite the partial service overlap, Google is not planning to use Google Podcasts and YouTube Music will soon merge.
Podcasts must be available on the platform in the US first, notifies YouTube to TechCrunch. The country will get this form of content ‘soon’. No information is available about when other countries will be next.
TechCrunch further writes that YouTube Music has no intention of arranging exclusive shows or anything like that for itself. A major competitor, Spotify, does make a tactic of that, with big names such as the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
