We’ve been counting on him for a few months, and even though his deployment on this side of the pond wasn’t expected so soon, we can already say that Podcasts have arrived on YouTube Music here in Spain. Of course, I warn you that the initial implementation can be improved only if you are a user of the service and enjoy listening to podcasts.

In fact, if you’re a YouTube Music user, you already know the good news, whether you care or not, because as soon as you enter the app – on the web or through the mobile app, it doesn’t matter – it’s been announced, and even with clarification, that if you are a Premium user, you will listen to the music without ads, but you will find some of this in the podcasts, because their content comes from the respective authors. Normal, wow. But… a podcast on YouTube Music?

To no one’s surprise, granted the relevance that podcasts have gained In the entertainment segment in general and on-demand music platforms in particular, the confirmation of this move at the beginning of the year came with little more than an announcement that it would happen. Since then, information has been trickling in, although with the premiere in the United States last April, we were able to see more or less what it would be like.

Basically, it’s no secret that there are many podcasts that are distributed through YouTube, either in video or audio-only format. However, all of this material has been omitted from YouTube Music. Nonsense both for the platform and for the user who is now quitting, despite the complaints of which there are several (the most fundamental ones shared by the competition, from Spotify to Amazon Music, Apple et al, it must be added).

The good thing, of course, is that YouTube podcasts can now be enjoyed on YouTube Music and not only that: in this format restrictions applicable to free plan users are ignored with music. For example, you can listen to podcasts on your mobile with the screen off or with the app running in the background. And that ends the benefits of a service that suffers from two major flaws that should be rectified as soon as possible.

Podcast on YouTube Music (Android)

The first and most embarrassing is that only podcasts that are already on YouTube are also on YouTube Music, meaning that the vast majority of traditional radio programs and many others are not available. Although there will be one announced and expected, there is currently no iTunes, Spotify or Amazon Music style podcast directory, let alone iVoox. They better fix it soon, because otherwise it’s worthless.

The second currency, shared by all platforms, lives in walled garden, without the ability to manually add podcasts via URL, as has long been possible in Google Podcasts, for example, which is not only a lack of functionality, but a danger to the podcast model itself. However, the latter is less severe on YouTube Music than on other platforms due to the duality of the service.

The rest lacks better in-app integration – nothing shows up in the explore section – as well as more visibility into what should be its own section, apart from the auto-generated playlists found in the web app’s sidebar, one pinned by default ( “New Episodes”) and the other at the bottom (“Episodes for Later”).

The good thing is that when you search for podcasts, you can filter them by their own category, and when you save them to your library, they are placed in their own section. And that’s all for now. Podcasts have arrived on YouTube Music, yes, but they need to be improved to bring the experience up to par with what it has to offer.

For more information, visit the YouTube Music help page.