YouTube might be taking a big step in the podcasting world through investing in podcasters. Here’s why the platform might be doing this.
YouTube could be getting ready to invest in podcasts, with the platform supposedly offering up to $300,000 for podcast networks to join YouTube and start creating video content.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Since podcasts are growing in popularity, it's no surprise that companies might look for ways to invest in them, and YouTube might be thinking the same way. A report by Bloomberg says that YouTube has started to offer funds to podcasts and podcast networks to turn their episodes into video content.
The people who talked to Bloomberg, who asked to remain anonymous, claim YouTube offers $50,000 to individual podcasts and $200,000 and $300,000 to podcast networks. These funds are said to be used to create filmed versions of their podcast episodes and other types of videos.
This isn’t YouTube’s first attempt to get into the podcast world. Back in 2021, the platform hired executive Kai Chuk to manage YouTube’s podcasting efforts. Likewise, YouTube now lets Canadian users listen to audio outside the app, which was a feature exclusive to YouTube Premium.
It's worth noting that YouTube has been home to many successful podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience, which Spotify later bought in 2020, and the H3 podcast. But this is the first time the company has invested money in podcasts.
Overall this seems like a smart decision from YouTube to try to grow its platform even more, if you can imagine. The video streaming platform has also gotten into gaming and music with YouTube Gaming and YouTube Music, respectively. YouTube now even has something called YouTube Shorts as a way to compete against TikTok.
It would only make sense for YouTube to get into the podcast space by creating visual episodes that people can enjoy without leaving the platform. And what better way to do it than giving both big and small creators a significant financial push.
It seems like YouTube’s betting heavy on podcasts with the hope to compete with other big platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We'll still have to wait and see what the company comes up with in the future.
In the meantime, since probably many podcasts will only be available on YouTube Premium, it might be a good time to consider if YouTube's subscription service is actually worth it for you.
With over 10 years of experience, Sergio Velasquez is a freelance writer and the Entertainment section editor at MUO. His love for all things tech started when he bought his first iPod Shuffle many years ago. Since then, he’s been writing about video games, Apple, Kindle, and any new tech he finds interesting. His work has been featured on websites like iDropNews, iDownloadBlog, and PocketGamer.
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