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April 12, 2024:
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Want to help your listeners listen to your podcast on the YouTube Music app, but would prefer they listen to your proper RSS feed, rather than whatever YouTube wants to do with it? RSS2YTM gives your listeners instructions on how to get your RSS feed in the app. (You can share the link, too).
April 11, 2024:
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YouTube Music has unveiled improvements to the app: enhanced podcast sort options, a “recommended shows” shelf in the app, and improved search results. The company announced the changes on Reddit.
April 1, 2024:
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At Podcast Movement Evolutions, YouTube announced a YouTube Podcasting 101 workshop, to take place on Apr 26. It’s the first of a number of workshops, the company said. A new “Podcasts for you” rail in YouTube was shown, using square show art; unspecified enhancements to the podcast experience in YouTube Music were also teased.
March 14, 2024:
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The YouTube Music app is working on a silence-skip function says 9to5 Google.
March 4, 2024:
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YouTube Music has fired around 50 staff looking to unionize, at the exact moment when they were in a meeting with Austin City Council asking for their help. Google deny they were fired, saying that they were contractors and the contract had ended - and that they need to negotiate with their employer. The National Labor Relations Board has said twice that the workers are jointly employed by both the contractor Cognizant and Google. The Alphabet Workers Union says Google’s action is illegal.
February 26, 2024:
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Setting up a Motorola Android phone over the weekend, your Editor noticed that it came pre-installed with YouTube Music, but also, to his surprise, insisted on installing the soon-to-close Google Podcasts.
January 31, 2024:
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Listeners can get Acast-hosted podcasts on the YouTube Music app using RSS feeds: use our tool to help.
January 15, 2024:
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YouTube Music is missing too many podcast basics, says 9to5Google. Abner Li is missing “mark episodes as played”, chapter support, and new episode notifications. (We’d add: skip-silence and volume-boost, please; but we like the “New episodes” view and when it gains swipe-to-mark-as-listened, it’ll be excellent).
December 28, 2023:
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Spotify now has more than 100,000 video podcasts on its platform, according to TubeFilter. They claim, as we covered on Nov 9, that video is more popular in the evenings, while audio is used more during the day. Spotify faces significant competition for video podcasts as YouTube Music ramps up its podcast aspirations.
December 19, 2023:
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9to5Google has published a look at the Google Podcasts migration process to YouTube Music. It also reports that “mark as played” will be coming shortly as a feature in the YouTube Music app. It has also added a “podcast recommendation” notification, which notifies you of podcasts you might like.
December 8, 2023:
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Google now plans to kill Google Podcasts in the US as early as April 2024, in favour of the company’s YouTube Music app. For US users, the company has posted information on how to migrate to YouTube Music or another app; the Google Podcasts app in the US will contain an “Export subscriptions” banner at the top.
December 4, 2023:
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Listeners can now add RSS podcasts in the YouTube Music app on all platforms, including iOS. Our own RSS2YTM website will help you/them add your favourite shows.
November 20, 2023:
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YouTube Music is (whisper it) quite a good, if basic, podcast app. From your friends at Podnews, this website will help you - if you want - listen to any podcast in YouTube Music, via the power of RSS. Shh.
November 15, 2023:
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YouTube Music continues rolling-out its support for playing podcasts via RSS feeds. You can currently add new RSS feeds to the app using Android or the web; but you can play them back on the app on iOS already. We built a website to help listeners find RSS feeds (and for podcasters to link to). You'll also find a new YouTube Music button in our podcast pages.
November 13, 2023:
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John Spurlock has published all useragents for YouTube Music's RSS playback feature, which we covered on Friday. The user-agents are part of the shared opawg user-agents-v2 repository, and will now be measured by OP3.
November 10, 2023:
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Exclusive: On Android and the web, the YouTube Music app is rolling out support for adding a podcast using an RSS URL. This lets you listen to any RSS-based podcast within the YouTube Music app; it works as passthrough direct to the podcast host. So, even if your favourite podcast isn't on YouTube... you can still listen, on YouTube Music. (The app is pre-installed on most new Android phones).
October 23, 2023:
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In terms of YouTube's analytics, you can see how popular the YouTube Music app is for listening to your podcast so far. In YouTube Studio, go to "Channel analytics", go for "Advanced Mode" (top right), and then under "More..." choose "YouTube Product". Our data for the last 28 days suggests YouTube Music is already bringing in 14% of the total time spent listening.
October 17, 2023:
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YouTube is now sending out emails to creators entitled Podcasts are on YouTube Music – make sure yours is too. It links to this page, which includes official buttons. We hear the company is also briefing some podcast hosting companies.
October 16, 2023:
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YouTube appears to be rolling out limited access to its RSS ingest service to some podcasters (we've heard it is visible to some people in the US and the UK). Invitations appear in YouTube Studio for podcast playlists. YouTube's Help Center has some detail on it. Podcast shows ingested in this way are visible globally on YouTube and within the YouTube Music app in selected countries.
October 10, 2023:
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Podcasts are launching on YouTube Music in the UK today, the second-largest podcast market in the world. We're told there will be a podcasts destination page within the YouTube Music app (normally pre-installed on all modern Android phones). The company also reaffirmed that "Later this year, we'll offer support for creators to directly submit their RSS feeds to YouTube to distribute their audio podcasts." YouTube UK Lead Alison Lomax said: "We’re thrilled to be launching podcasts in the UK on YouTube Music. Podcasts have soared in popularity in recent years among all age groups, particularly Gen Z users, and there is clearly an appetite for this longer–form audio visual content."
October 4, 2023:
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YouTube Music is adding auto-downloads for podcasts. Google Podcasts, which is top be replaced by YouTube Music, has this feature already.
September 27, 2023:
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Google Podcasts is to close, the company has announced. The news confirms Podnews's coverage in August that YouTube Music will allow you to add any RSS feed to the app, so you can continue to listen to your favourite shows in YouTube Music as a replacement. The company is working on a migration tool. They've also communicated the upcoming closure to listeners.
September 20, 2023:
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Podcasts are now available via search in the YouTube Music app in many more countries. A search for Podnews Daily now finds our podcast in - according to our searches - Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand (and, perhaps, other countries too) - along with the US, Canada and Latin America, who've had it for a while. It looks like this. We're not yet seeing podcasts appear in search results in Europe or the Middle East; though the search box correctly auto-completes "Podnews Daily".
September 5, 2023:
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You can now leave comments on podcasts within the YouTube Music app.
August 23, 2023:
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Within the YouTube Music app, podcasts are currently available in the US, Canada and Latin America, and are on track to complete a global rollout by the end of the year, including a podcast section on the website. The company is also planning additional analytics, and improved discovery and search for podcasts, especially for users who have engaged with podcast content.
July 20, 2023:
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Aligning with the Canadian launch of podcasts in the YouTube Music app, CBC Podcasts has launched a channel on YouTube. CBC already has more than eight million subscribers on the platform.
July 19, 2023:
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So - is YouTube Music rolling out podcasts worldwide? A YouTube spokesperson has told us that YouTube Music has begun to roll out podcasts to Canada and Brazil (but, for now, nowhere else). "Podcasts are currently only available to YouTube Music users in certain markets. Stay tuned for updates about when podcasts will launch in YouTube Music in your region."
July 17, 2023:
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Is YouTube Music rolling out podcasts internationally, as claimed on Friday? In Australia we see podcasts promoted in the search box (but not actually available in search); Podnews readers in Canada, New Zealand and the UK aren't seeing podcasts. We asked Google early Friday, but they didn't respond. We've asked again for you.
July 14, 2023:
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9to5Google claims that YouTube Music is rolling out international support for 'podcasts', with some users in Canada and Brazil seeing podcasts appear in the music app. Separately, comments appear to also be rolling out. We've asked Google for comment.
May 23, 2023:
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As to whether YouTube's integration into YouTube Music is working? He shares the statistics for the Bandrew Says podcast: 20,426 views on YouTube, and just 1 on YouTube Music. "I am pretty sure that one view is me making sure the show was actually working in YouTube Music … This is worse than my than my worst expectation of this."
May 8, 2023:
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Following reporting about dismal YouTube numbers on Friday… Folding Pocket contacted us with details of Up Front with Simon Jordan, which was launched last week. The podcast is #1 Sports Podcast on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts, but also has more than half a million views on YouTube in less than a week. (There are no podcasts on YouTube Music in the UK, either).
May 1, 2023:
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To check how your podcast looks in YouTube Music, you can either a) download the app or b) visit the website. If you're outside the US, a VPN will do the trick: ProtonVPN is trustworthy and has a free tier. (Remember: you'll need to upload your show separately to YouTube, as a video file - or use a service like Headliner.)
April 28, 2023:
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YouTube Music has officially launched its podcast service in the US. They have posted this advice for podcast creators, and badges (which, we note, talk about "listen on YouTube Music", despite the company suggesting we don't say that). It looks identical to our examination of the web version earlier this week. Two notable quotes:
April 26, 2023:
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YouTube Music now has podcasts - on the website version only for now. Use a US VPN, and you'll see a podcasts tab top left. Click it to see recommended episodes (Podnews Daily as #1 probably suggests it's personalised), and beneath, a list of featured podcasts showing the square images, like comedy and business. Searching for a podcast, like Podnews Daily, returns a list of podcasts and episodes. Podcast pages allow you to "add to library" (no subscribe or follow button here); and pressing play gives you the option of audio-only or video, as is standard with YouTube Music. The player automatically plays "similar content", which are not in any specific order; there's skip-forward 30 seconds and skip-back 10 seconds buttons (which aren't there for music). YouTube Music's web version is usually very similar to the app in UX and featureset; so podcasts through the app is presumably coming very soon.
April 10, 2023:
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YouTube Music, which gets podcasting (in the US only) soon, is adding a sleep timer in readiness.
March 27, 2023:
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Slate is the latest publisher to partner with YouTube to bring its podcasts to the platform. The Slate channel on YouTube includes archives of shows including Slow Burn, and new shows updated daily or weekly. Podcasts are available globally within YouTube, and will also be available in the US only on the YouTube Music app shortly.
March 20, 2023:
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In a tweet, YouTube has announced that "podcasts are a go!" We think this means that podcast tools are now available on YouTube Studio for all (and 9to5google suggests this too); though podcasts are not visible in YouTube Music for anyone yet. An explainer video has been published, along with a new section in YouTube's FAQs. YouTube has not responded to a request for comment.
March 16, 2023:
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9to5Google has spotted upcoming code in the YouTube Music app for podcasts. The data indicates that podcasts will appear in your library tab; and the search function in the app will search podcasts as well. You'll also be able to add episodes to your playback queue. YouTube Music gets podcasts in the US only later this year.
February 27, 2023:
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YouTube podcasts: The Hollywood Reporter was present at the Hot Pod Summit last week, and the YouTube Music announcement. So was Axios, who said the mood was upbeat. Bandrew Scott calls the announcement confusing, asking how the "ad-funded background listening" is going to work for podcasters. In emails to Podnews, "I only think this will work if the podcasts are available both on YouTube and YouTube Music simultaneously. I’m not sure if that was clarified." says Anthony Frasier. (Our podcast playlist appears visible on YouTube too). "Upsetting it is US only at the moment," says a Canadian reader (echoing our thoughts); "they are totally fumbling a massive opportunity".
February 21, 2023:
It isn't pulling from RSS at all. This means programmatic ads or any form of dynamic monetisation won't work; though we do know that YouTube is selling audio ads in some territories already for their YouTube Music product. You might expect them to share revenue with podcast creators in the same way they currently do with video producers (if you're large enough).
December 30, 2022:
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Podcast producer David Rosen releases a new album of instrumental music today, called More Content (YouTube Music|Spotify). In the Piecing It Together Podcast today - an album length commentary track featuring the songs from the new album, with Rosen recounting the stories behind the music.
November 17, 2022:
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Comparisons: YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly logged-in users; Spotify has 456m. YouTube Music has now hit 80m paid subscribers, growing 60% year-on-year. Spotify has 195m paid subscribers, growing 13% year-on-year. In a year, YouTube paid $6bn to the music industry (Jul21-Jun22); Spotify paid $7bn (2021). YouTube's podcasting front page is still only in one country, the US; yesterday, Spotify released video podcasting to 180 global markets.
October 11, 2021:
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YouTube Music is to make background listening available for free, starting with Canada. ChromeUnboxed suggests the app is to merge with Google Podcasts. The company is also rolling out live translations and a better subtitle editor.
September 8, 2021:
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YouTube has hit 50 million subscribers to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music. Spotify has 165m paid subscribers.
December 14, 2020:
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Spotify is to allow you to play your own music tracks on Android. It already supports this on desktop; and YouTube Music allows you to store your own tracks in the service.
November 19, 2020:
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YouTube Music is launching audio ads, says Variety. The product replaced Google Play Music this month; while podcasts now live in Google Podcasts, monetisation for audio could be useful here, too.
August 5, 2020:
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At long last, Google Play Music will be shut down in October in favour of YouTube Music, the company has announced. Google Play Music contains a podcast player for some users: confusingly unconnected to Google Podcasts, a separate podcast app that Google launched 778 days ago.
July 10, 2020:
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Americans are spending less time listening to YouTube, according to new data from Edison Research. 6% fewer Americans used it 'last week' according to the data. Joe Rogan comes off the platform in September. YouTube Music, the company's Spotify competitor, is likely to replace Google Play Music later this year: and hopefully Google Play Music Podcasts will stop being a thing.
May 13, 2020:
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Google has released a set of tools to help us move away from Google Play Music - the music service is switching to YouTube Music. For podcast listeners who still use it, the company has added tools for listeners to transfer podcast subscriptions to Google Podcasts and for publishers to transfer their podcasts to Google Podcasts Manager. It should hopefully start to end confusion about these two products.
February 7, 2020:
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Meantime, YouTube Music is closer to replacing Google Play Music, with testing going on for a cloud locker service. One source for 9to5google suggests this means that Google Play Music will be closed in the second half of 2020. Hopefully, Google Play Music Podcasts won't still be a thing for much longer.
September 30, 2019:
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YouTube Music is to be preinstalled on all new Android phones. This means that Google Play Music will no longer be, and gives a further reason to stop promoting the dormant service for podcast use. The (different) Google Podcasts player is pre-installed in all phones, but the app itself still doesn't, it seems, come as standard.
December 8, 2017:
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YouTube is planning to launch a paid music service in March, "according to people familiar with the matter". It already has one (YouTube Red); it had one (YouTube Music Key). Also, see Google's bewildering range of instant messaging services: Messenger, Duo, Allo, Hangouts, Google Chat, Google+ and Google Spaces.