YouTube has big plans for podcasts after losing Joe Rogan in $200m Spotify deal

YouTube reportedly has big plans for its podcast side of the website, especially after losing Joe Rogan’s full-length shows to Spotify.

In September 2020, Joe Rogan’s podcast – The Joe Rogan Experience – said goodbye to a whole host of platforms as it become exclusive to Spotify in a reported $200 million deal. One of those, of course, being YouTube.

Before Rogan’s mega-deal with Spotify, the UFC commentator’s podcast would get most of it’s views from YouTube, especially as fans could sit and watch the epic conversations between himself and his guests.

While some clips from the show still make it onto YouTube, you do have to go through Spotify for the full-length video version of the show. Plenty of other podcasts have followed Rogan’s steps with a video side of things, and YouTube has big plans aimed at keeping them under their umbrella.

YouTube has massive plans for podcasts

According to a report from Business Insider, which cites YouTube sources, Rogan’s bumper deal with Spotify was signed at such a lofty figure due to his success on YouTube.

Additionally, the report noted that will YouTube has begun rolling out some tools for the podcast side of their website – including a landing page – there are still more to come as they look to grow in the podcasting space off the back of Rogan’s departure.

As per PodNews’ previous report, YouTube is apparently implementing RSS Feeds for podcasts, as well as metrics tracking for uploaders. Though, some of these are currently only available to those in the United States.

PodNews also reported that podcasters will be able to feature audio adverts – both sold by Google and themselves, provided they are large enough to do so – which would be another significant boost.

There’s unlikely to be a YouTube podcast that dethrones Rogan or any of the other Spotify exclusives anytime soon, but the podcasting battle will roll on.