Good news for Google Play Music users in Canada and the U.S. as Google has announced the arrival of podcasts to the service.
On Monday, Google revealed in a blog post that podcasts would finally make their debut on the Google Play Music service, putting it in the same league as rivals iTunes and Spotify.
Interestingly, a week ago, in an email newsletter to its subscribers, NPR disclosed that podcasts would come to the streaming service on April 18. It would be rolled out to Android and other platforms - news which is now confirmed by the service.
"Starting today on the web and rolling out on Android in the U.S. and Canada, we'll connect you with podcasts based on what you're doing, how you're feeling and what you're interested in. Similar to our contextual playlists for music, we want to make it easy to find the right podcast-whether you're a podcast aficionado or listening for the first time," noted Google.
In October 2015, Google was instrumental in launching a portal for podcasters in the U.S., who wished to use it as a medium to get their shows to Google Play Music service. However, at the time, it did not disclose when playing podcasts on the app would go live for the audience.
A few months down the line, in February this year some users of Google Play Music service let on that they were able to espy a podcast section on their app. This suggested that Google was potentially testing out the podcast feature and it could go live in the near future.
The podcast section for Google Play Music will be offering a user contextual recommendations - just like its music section - instead of a regular directory for podcasts. Basically, the recommendations will be based on the interests or activities of the listener.
Users will get recommendations for playlists that feature podcasts that are centered on specific issues or agendas such as "Learning Something New." This podcast will also feature episodes from How To Do Everything and Stuff You Should Know.
Listeners have the option of searching out a particular show and they can subscribe to the one the take a shine to. One can opt for the alerts on a new episode's arrival or choose to automatically downloading the show on one's device.
iOS users of the Google Play Music service will not be able to indulge in podcasts immediately as the platform is not part of the initial rollout. However, one can access the new podcast section for Google Play Music on the web. Android users of the service will also be able to access the podcast section as the roll out is underway.
