Google Podcasts is officially coming to an end in 2024. The announcement was made on the YouTube Official Blog this week. The new home for Google podcasts will be YouTube Music.
What is Google Podcasts?
Google Podcasts is a podcast app that Google first launched in 2018. Initially the app was developed for Android devices, but Google also developed web versions for iOS and Windows. In addition, in 2020, Google let users transfer their podcast subscriptions and history to Google Podcasts from Google Play Music.
What is YouTube Music?
YouTube Music is a music streaming service from YouTube and Google. It was first launched in 2015 and took over from Google Play Music as the main music streaming platform for Google in 2020. Earlier this year, Google launched the ability to watch and listen to podcasts on YouTube Music without needing a paid membership. However, this was only available in the U.S.
What was announced?
The YouTube team put out a post on the YouTube Official Blog this week. It was headed “Creating a centralized podcast destination on YouTube Music.” First off, the post confirmed that Podcasts on YouTube Music will be rolled out globally before the end of 2023. In addition, in 2024, Google is going to increase its investment in the podcast experience on YouTube Music. The aim is to make the service a better overall destination for fans and podcasters alike.
Discontinuing Google Podcasts
The YouTube team also confirmed that as part of this process, it will be discontinuing Google Podcasts. The company will also help Google Podcasts users move over to Podcasts in YouTube Music. As well as centralizing it’s podcast services, Google is also responding to demand. According to Edison, about 23% of weekly podcast users in the US say YouTube is their most frequently used service, versus just 4% for Google Podcasts.
What we think
Once Google announced the Podcasts on YouTube Music service, it was clear that Google Podcast’s days were numbered. However, it’s good to see that the company will be supporting users to move their content across. The YouTube team confirmed that it will make the migration process from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music as simple and easy as possible. It’s working on migration tools and will release them along with clear guidelines when they are ready.
