YouTube launches Weekly Podcast ranker; Rogan tops. We compare Edison.

YouTube has launched and announced a podcast popularity chart, awkwardly named “Weekly Top Podcast Shows: Most popular podcast shows on YouTube.” The date range for this debut weekly chart is May 5-11, establishing a reporting cadence with a one-week lag. We examine and compare this ranker to recent Edison Research data on podcast popularity. Continue Reading

Google to end Google Podcasts; commits to YouTube Music for “increasing investment in the podcast experience”

“We want to make sure we get this right.” —Google YouTube team. Google will discontinue the Google Podcasts app, and move its central podcast offering to YouTube Music in 2024. In choosing YouTube Music as the home base for podcasting, YouTube is emulating Spotify’s hybrid music/talk content model. Continue Reading

YouTube offers grants to podcasters and networks to get on the platform

Popular listening platforms, from streaming music to broadcast radio, have stepped into podcasting by pulling podcasting onto their platforms, mostly through acquisitions. Alphabet/Google/YouTube is taking a somewhat different tack, offering six-figure grants to podcasters and podcast networks to create video versions of their shows. This according to Bloomberg, which cites anonymous sources.  Continue Reading

TikTok releases first-ever music report, indicating a powerful music discovery role

Over 176 different songs surpassed 1 billion video views on micro-video platform TikTok. That from the company’s first annual music report. Over 70 artists have broken on the platform, and landed major label deals. While major surveys put YouTube as a leading music discovery environment, TikTok seems determined to build recognition for its role in finding and sharing songs. Continue Reading

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Google Play Music to close … soon. Google attempts to funnel users into YouTube Music.

The warning is clear, though without a timeline: “You will soon lose access to Google Play Music.” That’s what Android users see when they open the Google Play Music app — Google’s would-be direct competitor to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Users are advised to transfer their accounts to YouTube Music, where the subscriptions will continue. YouTube Music is a starkly different UEX environment and library proposition. Continue Reading