Google is getting into the podcasting game with the debut of its first original series this week: City Soundtracks.
Hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway of West Wing Weekly (another popular podcast that goes back and recaps each episode of NBC’s The West Wing), the series will feature conversations with musicians, who in turn will be asked for song recommendations and playlists curated to reflect how they see their hometowns.
Three episodes are already available, zooming in on New Orleans, Oakland, Calif., and Austin, Texas—where the annual tech, music, and entertainment festival South by Southwest (SXSW) will kickoff this weekend.
A trailer for the podcast is available below, and interested listeners in the U.S. And Canada can access the program for free via Google Play Music.
Google Play has been more of a quiet destination for podcasts compared to Apple’s iTunes and apps like Podcast Addict for Android. The digital content storefront only added a podcast category less than a year ago. Even Spotify, the most popular music subscription service across multiple platforms right now, is dabbling with original podcasts to attract more customers. An exclusive original series could peg Google Play as a more sought-after entry point.
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