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Google is getting ready to press play on a new Google Play Music streaming service kicking off in the coming months: podcasts.
Google’s move shores up a hole in its own music streaming service at a time when the space continues to get more competitive, dominated largely by Apple’s own iTunes service. Once its podcasts are in place, Google Play Music will compete more directly with iTunes, bringing these two rivals closer in line.
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While the working podcast feature is still months away, Google is letting podcast producers and networks create accounts to ready themselves for the launch. In fact, Google is already working with more than a dozen of the top names in podcasts, like HowStuffWorks, to help them prepare.
Rather than simply hosting and serving podcasts, Google will be proactive in suggesting new shows. Much like Google Play Music does for playlists, podcast listeners will be presented with content based on time of day, interests and moods.
At the unveiling of its 2015 Nexus smartphones, Google announced it will soon offer a shared Google Play Music plan. Once in place, this will give up to six users access to the same library for $14.99 per month.
More recently, Google formally pulled the curtain back on its YouTube Red service, which offers an ad-free video experience and access to Google’s library of music. The podcast option is only the latest in a series of moves from Google who is making very obvious plays for media creation and consumption.
Google plans to share more details on its podcast endeavors in the coming months.
