Google Podcasts is closing: users will be transferred to YouTube Music

Google is official announced, which will close the Google Podcasts service in 2024. Help users quickly navigate to YouTube Music, which recently received support for podcasts in the US, this feature will be available to listeners around the world by the end of the year.

Before the end of support for Google Podcasts, users will have access to a utility for quickly transferring data. If users don't want to go to YouTube Music, they can download an OPML file containing a complete list of subscriptions, and load it into the new application - if it supports such import subscriptions.

Previously, Google also announced support for uploading podcasts to YouTube Music via RSS. If a show is only available on Apple Music and Spotify, you can still add episodes to YouTube Music using RSS, and new episodes will be uploaded automatically.

It seems that Google is trying to expand the audience of YouTube Music, forcing users of older services to switch. This already happened when Google Play Music closed in 2020, but with podcasts it’s not that simple. Until recently, YouTube Music did not support podcasts at all, and users preferred to listen and watch stories on YouTube itself, rather than in the separate Google Podcasts service.

If Apple does not change its policy, then next year it will remain the only major market player that does not combine music and podcast services. Both types of content are available in the Spotify, Amazon Music and Pandora applications, just like in the Russian Yandex Music.