YouTube Music has rolled out a new update that enables listeners to listen to podcasts in the background for free.
The new update allows users to tune into podcasts on the YouTube Music app where listeners can gain access to on-demand, offline streams that support background listening without a Premium subscription.
What its means is that the YouTube Music app will now have a dedicated podcast tab where users can browse through shows that were once limited to the main YouTube app. Users can also swap between the audio and video versions of a podcast while using YouTube Music.
In February, during The Verge’s Hot Pod Summit, YouTube first announced its bringing podcast to its music streaming service which it’s “gradually” rolling out to users.
Though the podcasts are only available to YouTube Music users in the US for now, YouTube says it plans on extending the feature to other countries in the future.
The new feature is available on the YouTube Music app across iOS, Android, and the Web.
YouTube Music adding podcasts to its service will help it compete with Spotify which just hit 500 million monthly active users earlier this week.
In November 2022, It was reported that YouTube has around 80 million Music and Premium subscribers while Spotify says it has around 210 million paying users.
