Google supported podcasts for years in Google Play Music, and later Google Podcasts, but recently the company has been integrating them into YouTube as well. Now there is official “podcast” support in YouTube Music.
Google rolled out podcast support to all YouTube channels in March, and now the same integration is live in YouTube Music. On the desktop site, there’s a Podcasts tab at the top of the Home page, and podcasts also appear as a separate section in search results. If you started listening to a podcast in the main YouTube app or site, your progress also appear in the Music app, and vice-versa. It also works without any YouTube Premium subscription.
Google said in a support article, “We’re happy to share that podcasts on YouTube are now available in YouTube Music! We’re rolling this out to all our listeners in the United States gradually, so hold tight if you don’t see it yet! This update allows those watching podcasts on the main app to continue listening to them on YouTube Music.”
However, YouTube and YouTube Music’s implementation of podcast support is… strange. Instead of becoming another app for accessing the same audio feeds as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and so on, you can only listen to content uploaded directly to YouTube. You can’t import your favorite shows with RSS feeds, and podcasts are just YouTube playlists that the creator has marked as a podcast.
Since it’s using YouTube videos as the only source of shows, the “podcast” selection in Music has some overlap with other podcast apps, but only if the shows you enjoy happen to upload to both YouTube and normal audio platforms. You’re probably still better off with an actual podcast app.
Source: YouTube Music Help
