Audience Development

Podcast Rollout Begins on YouTube

Everything you need to know to publish your podcast on YouTube

You may have heard over 2022 that Youtube is the most used podcast platform (i, ii, iii). Back in February 2023, Youtube announced during the “Hot Pod Summit” at On Air Fest in Brooklyn that podcasts would be coming to YouTube Music in the “near future”.

YouTube has now rolled out the necessary support and Creator tools to implement podcasts within YouTube Music app. On the YouTube Studio Content page you’ll find a new “Podcasts” tab.

YouTube Channel Content Menu highlighting new Podcasts Tab

But what is a podcast within YouTube? Officially, a “podcast show is a playlist, and podcasts episodes are videos in that playlist”. However these videos will be eligible for audio-only playback within the YouTube Music app.

How do you take advantage of these new features?

If you’ve already been uploading your podcast content to YouTube, reclassifying a playlist as a podcast is easy!

1. Within YouTube Studio, click Create > New podcast.
-You may be asked to verify your account before creating a new podcast

2. From the pop-up, select Create a new podcast.
-Select Set an existing playlist as a podcast if you’d like to turn an existing playlist into a podcast. Learn how to optimize existing playlists in the next section.

3. Enter your podcast details, including:
-Podcast title
-Description
-Visibility (Public or Private)
-Square podcast thumbnail

4. Click Create to save.

Haven’t yet uploaded your podcast to YouTube?

Here’s how you can create a podcast in YouTube Studio.

On YouTube, a podcast show is a playlist, and podcast episodes are videos in that playlist. Your podcast should only contain full-length episodes, organized in the order that they should be consumed. If your podcast has multiple seasons, include them in the same playlist.

Podcast creators are eligible for the following perks:

• Podcast-specific discovery and recommendation features, making it easier for your audience to find your podcast.
• Official search cards.
• The option to be featured on youtube.com/podcasts.
• Badges on your podcasts and videos.
• Your podcast will be available to YouTube Music users.

Note:

• Some playlists aren’t eligible for podcast features, even if you designate them as podcasts. Ineligible content includes, but isn’t limited to, content that isn’t owned by the creator.
• Youtube.com/podcasts is only available in the US.
• Podcast inclusion in the YouTube Music app is coming soon to creators in the US.

YouTube has provided creators with various best practices, including:

• “If your podcast has multiple seasons, include them in the same podcast.”
• “During set up, give your podcast a descriptive title. Don’t add extra words to your podcast title (including ‘podcast,’ unless that is part of your show’s name).”
• “Avoid generic podcast titles, such as “Full Episodes”, “New Uploads”, “Podcast”, etc. If your playlist title is too vague, YouTube will replace your podcast’s title with your channel name in the YouTube Music app.”
• “If your show is episodic, order your videos from newest to oldest.”
• “If your show is serial, order your playlist from oldest to newest.”

Should I Have My Podcast on YouTube?

YouTube boasts more than 2.6 billion active users while having 50 million subscribers to their YouTube Premium and Music apps. For that reason alone it makes sense to have a presence on the app to help reach an audience that, by the numbers, has been inherently video-first.

The changes that YouTube appears to be making it easier for brands and creators to have their audio podcasts exist within the YouTube ecosystem.

The key differentiating factor is that a podcast’s audio will be accessible to listeners from a locked screen. This means that your listeners can take you on the go without having to have their app open and visible. That also means that audio-first podcasts may not seem out of place on the video-first platform.

Right now, YouTube appears to be prepping their database by allowing creators and brands to categorize their content as podcasts. There is still much to be seen and even more to learn once these features are rolled out for the US market and beyond.

Along with these designations, creators will have access to podcast specific analytics which will be separate from the main YouTube metrics, how viewers find your podcast along with similar demographics and revenue analytics that you would see with YouTube’s main dashboard.

If your brand has an audio podcast that could have a home on YouTube, now is the time to think about the types of podcast videos that you can create.

Audiogram services make it easy to create static image videos that you can upload directly to YouTube without the need for a large production budget.

UPDATE:
As of September 20/2023, PodNews reported:
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.
Source: PodNews Daily, Sept 20/2023

Looking for more tips to create a podcast on YouTube?

Check out our best practices for podcast creators for more tips to optimize your channel, or learn how to create a podcast in YouTube Studio using the info below. If you’re new to YouTube, learn how to upload videos as episodes of your podcast.

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