It’s time for YouTube to really get into the podcasting game, at least from one of the industry’s pillars: RSS. Until now, YouTube was one of the best places to upload your radio show, now it’s possibly the best.
2023 was a tumultuous year for Google, in which many applications and services were closed as the company focused on artificial intelligence.
Google Podcasts stopped working and creators have opted for YouTube and YouTube Music. The transition will be completed in April, but the content uploading process is still not optimized for podcasts.
Fortunately, Google seems willing to rectify this situation and is finally making it easier for podcast creators to upload old episodes to YouTube, especially if they rely on RSS channels for distribution.
RSS comes to YouTube to the joy of everyone
Unfortunately, Google leaves no other option for creators when it comes to publishing their content on YouTube and YouTube Music after the closure of Google Podcasts. In addition, podcasters have been forced to upload audio-only content as videos to meet YouTube’s requirements.
In order to make YouTube Music easier to use for podcasters, Google has been planning to add RSS feed compatibility, as it would simplify the process of uploading content to the platform.
RSS font compatibility for podcast subscriptions was already tested with a handful of listeners at the end of last year, but full compatibility would allow podcasters to upload content to the platform using RSS feeds.
This has been one of the company’s priorities since Google eliminated its dedicated Podcasts app. Updates to the YouTube help documentation reveal that RSS uploads are now supported in many countries where YouTube and YouTube Music are available (via 9to5Google).
The documentation explains that it is necessary to complete the configuration by entering a code sent by email in the RSS settings.
Then, to upload it to YouTube and YouTube Music, simply select the episode you want to publish, edit attributes such as the title, description, and visibility, review it in private mode, and manually publish it for your audience.
To further assist audio podcasters, the new YouTube tool will automatically create a video with a cover image created using standard podcast artwork.
