Google introduced today it are going to be actually stopping its own Google.com Podcasts application eventually in 2024 as aspect of its own wider shift to relocate its own streaming audiences over to YouTube Songs. The business previously this year introduced YouTube Songs would certainly start assisting podcasts in the U.S., which are going to grow internationally through year-end, as well as extra lately mentioned it was actually incorporating the potential for podcasters to post their RSS supplies to YouTube likewise through year-end.
Today, Google.com claims it intends on more enhancing its own financial investment in the podcast expertise on YouTube Songs as well as creating it even more of a place for podcast followers along with functions concentrated on finding, area, as well as shifting in between audio podcasts as well as video recording. The last is actually one thing competing Spotify has actually likewise been actually dealing with along with its own rollout of video recording podcast help to producers worldwide in 2013 in addition to area functions like Q&As as well as surveys.
However, to make YouTube Music the new home for podcasts, that means moving users away from the current offering, Google Podcasts. The company notes this plan reflects how people are already listening. According to Edison, about 23% of weekly podcast users in the U.S. say YouTube is their most frequently used service versus just 4% for Google Podcasts.
To help users with the transition to YouTube Music, the company will offer Google Podcast users a migration tool and the ability to add podcast RSS feeds to their YouTube Music library, including shows that aren’t currently hosted by YouTube — something it had announced last month was in the works. These migration tools aren’t yet available but will be worked on in the coming weeks and months before being rolled out to all users.
In addition, Google will also support the option to download an OPML file of their show subscriptions from Google Podcasts, which they can upload to any app that supports importing if they don’t want to move to YouTube Music.
“We know this transition will take time, but these efforts will allow us to build an amazing product and a single destination that rewards creators and artists and provides fans with the best Podcasts experience,” a YouTube blog post explained. “For now, nothing is changing and fans will continue to have access to YouTube, YouTube Music, and Google Podcasts. We’re committed to being transparent in communicating future changes with our users and podcasters and will have more to share about this process in the coming months,” it said.
Google has been slowly shifting users away from older products in its effort to make YouTube Music more of a competitor to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and others. In 2020, YouTube Music offered a similar transition strategy to move music listeners away from Google Play Music ahead of its shutdown that year. Nonetheless, podcasts have a more difficult product because so many users turn to YouTube itself to listen to podcasts, not to the dedicated Google Podcasts app. Meanwhile, YouTube Songs hasn’t been ready to support podcasts until more recently.
The move will certainly leave only Apple among the major players that hasn’t consolidated music and podcasts into a single destination, as Spotify, Amazon and Pandora all provide each forms of sound in their front runner treatments.
