Google Podcasts to be killed off soon! Big boost for YouTube Music

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Google Podcasts will soon take its leave after staying in the market for a short period of time. Google has officially released a statement that it will be going away with Podcasts next year. YouTube Music will thereafter, be the the podcast centre. It is also reported that the YouTube podcast version will have new updates and features for podcast listeners. Know all about the announcement here.

YouTube Music blog post shared the news that Google Podcasts will be discontinued later in 2024. The post said, “We'll be discontinuing Google Podcasts. As part of this process, we'll be helping Google Podcasts users move over to Podcasts in YouTube Music.” They also mentioned that they will be investing more in enhancing the podcast experience for YouTube Music users.

YouTube Music enables users to listen to podcasts in audio as well as video format. Additionally, they can also listen to podcasts when they are offline which gives them flexibility with their data usage. As of now, podcasts are only available in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. It is reported that it will be made available to podcast listeners globally too.

According to YouTube Music, in the US, approximately 23% of weekly podcast listeners most frequently turn to YouTube, while only 4% prefer using Google Podcasts. Google will also be introducing a user-friendly migration tool for transitioning existing subscriptions from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music. Users will be able to include podcasts via RSS feeds in YouTube Music, even if they are not currently available on the platform. Additionally, for other podcast players, Google is offering an alternative export method via an "OPML file" of your subscriptions.

YouTube Music will also be collecting