YouTube announces a “Podcasts For You” shelf — and a workshop to go with it

YouTube has announced a further investment in audio-related products. At Podcast Movement Evolutions — a four-day gathering held in Los Angeles at the end of March — YouTube revealed several updates for its platform, including a “Podcasts For You” shelf that will surface personalized show recommendations.

As seen in the above image, YouTube’s podcast shelves will appear in the home feed on the YouTube mobile app, where individual shows will be represented with square-shaped icons. It’s not the first time YouTube has used its shelves to highlight specific pieces of content. Earlier this year, it announced a hub that would highlight “community clips” in a Twitch-style showcase.

Other YouTube announcements during Podcast Movement Evolutions included the reveal of a redesigned podcast listening experience in the YouTube Music app. In addition, the YouTube API now contains a “podcast” category. According to Podnews, that feature will make it easier for companies to cross-post their shows to YouTube.

Some of YouTube’s podcasting plans are catered toward creators. A free “YouTube Podcasting 101” workshop is planned for 3 PM ET on April 26. Podnews notes that the instructional sessions will be the first of several such classes YouTube plans to host in the coming months.

The latest updates to YouTube’s podcast operation will join existing features, including a dedicated podcast tab on channel tags and a guide that teaches creators how to make better audiovisual content. Those tools are helping YouTube keep pace with Spotify; as the former platform becomes more invested in audio, the latter is adopting more video features.

YouTube is now a robust destination for podcasters, but other Google-run hubs are not getting as much love. Thanks to the recent discontinuation of the Google Podcasts product, users will have to migrate their content over to YouTube Music.