In the dynamic world of music streaming services, other platforms are often judged against the long-established standard set by Spotify. Spotify had a 30% market share in 2022, leaving rivals Apple Music and YouTube Music in the dust with 15% and 9%, respectively. The battle is still far from finished, though, as YouTube Music keeps working to close the gap and provide users with a more complete media platform.
With the global rollout of podcast support, YouTube Music is taking a huge step towards improving its platform and enhancing its services. This feature offers a redesigned user experience where Podcasts join mood filters on the Home page, as reported by 9to5Google.
Podcasts were first made available to American customers in late April, and they are now becoming available in Brazil and Canada. Users can browse curated feeds, recommended shows, and a variety of categories, including Sitcoms, Role-Playing Games, and Ghost Stories, as they see fit. When I checked the Podcast tab on my YouTube Music app, I found that these categories were tailored to my specific interests, so your app might show different ones.
Also, in an effort to organize the content, the Library tab now includes Podcasts alongside other filters like Playlists, Songs, Albums, and Artists. Users may readily access their favorite material thanks to this configuration, which enables an auto playlist of New Episodes from subscribed shows and previously stored Episodes for Later.
Special features like offline and background playback are available to all users, not just those with a YouTube Premium subscription — but to be fair, I wasn’t able to test this properly since I have a Premium subscription and would never consider temporarily disabling it. One thing to make note of is that as of today, the podcasts available have to have already been posted as YouTube videos, so you might already be familiar with the podcasts you see.
With this important move, YouTube Music is proving that it is dedicated to improving user experience and growing its audience. The company hopes to offer a comprehensive media service that not only competes with but also has the potential to outperform the offerings of other significant participants in the market by incorporating video-based podcast support into their platform.