Google has finally brought podcasts to its Play Music service, as reported on Sunday (after a long, gruesome wait). The announcement wasn’t much of a surprise though, since several users had already seen a podcasts section in Play Music.
Until now, Google hadn’t quite entered into the podcasts genre, leaving it to third-party apps. Now though, it seems as if the company is doing what most music services do. The podcasts service, the web giant said, will be available over the Web and on the Android app of Google Play Music in Canada and the US.
The company had unveiled a portal for podcasters in the US that allowed them to bring their shows to Google Play Music. There wasn’t any official word about the feature being rolled out for Play Music then.
The podcasts, Google says, will work similar to its contextual music service. The company has made it easy for you to find the right podcast at the right time.
Try “Learning Something New” to talk about at a dinner party and listen to our favorite episodes from Stuff You Should Know or How To Do Everything. Enjoy a Sunday afternoon by “Getting Lost in a Story” with episodes from Radiolab or Reply All, or relax after a long day by “Laughing Out Loud” to Marc Maron’s WTF or Chris Hardwick’s The Nerdist,”
the blog post announcing the new service reads.
If you find something you love, subscribe to download the last several episodes automatically on your device or choose to be notified every time a new episode comes out.
Podcasters can head right to the podcast portal to make their shows public via Google Play Music. It’s a three-step process: Add your RSS feed, confirm ownership and finally, publish.
Although users not living in the US and Canada can expect podcasts to roll out on their Google Play Music clients eventually, the company hasn’t actually pointed a finger on the calendar to when we will get it. Also, users accessing Google Play Music via their Apple devices will have to wait to enjoy this experience.
The service works similar to most of the mainstream podcast portals out there, the only difference being enhancements in the user experience.
