Apple Again Rumored to Announce New Podcast Subscription Service At ‘Spring Loaded’ Event Later Today

[PinkyMacGodess]

Subscription, for money? Ouch... I'm being nickle and dimed by all kinds of things that didn't exist just a year (or 2) ago.

Apple News being the latest. So pay for Podcasts? Will they support the podcasters that I used to listen to that suddenly dropped their content? I was getting in to the whole thing, and loved a bunch of them, and so many would just stop, and some stopped, and their content just disappeared. I was getting in to a bunch of them, and after they disappeared, I just stopped following Podcasts in general.

I get that a lot of it is 'user generated', so I wonder if Apple will help pay people to continue creating content. I hope so. If 'we' have to pay for Podcasts, Apple should pay producers so they can/will keep their channels running. Otherwise, it's just more gravy for Apple's management, and investors.

 

[Porco]

I don’t consider siloed, exclusive paid-for audio content as ‘podcasting’, I think it goes against much of what makes podcasts great. Those making such schemes should call them something else, IMHO.

 

[ColdShadow]

soon they will ask you to pay for google search maps email etc

 

[Johnny907]

The problem Apple are having with their current free to listen podcast scheme is that all the popular podcasts are being lured away to Spotify and the likes that do have higher monetization scheme for podcasts , if you were a successful podcaster , where would you go ? to a place where you get paid by commercials only ? or for a place that pay you to be at their platform?
Do you pay extra for podcasts on Spotify ? or is it part of the original price ? i assume Apple will follow Spotify here.

Like what, Joe Rogan? Pft. Any podcast you have to join a subscription service like Spotify to listen to isn’t worth listening to.
If Apple wants to push podcasts then they need to fix their janky player that can’t even manage to play parts 1 and 2 of the same episode in order, and fix their content discovery menu. Overcast kicks the tar out of the podcast app to the point Apple should be ashamed.

 

[Rogifan]

So is this a subscription service or more like Patreon?

 

[SuperMatt]

Lots of over-reaction happening… podcasts are not going away. The vast majority of podcasts aren’t going to start charging subscription fees. If Apple makes it easy for podcasters who WANT to offer subscription content to do so, what is the problem? We’ve had pay TV (cable, streaming, etc.) for decades, but you can still put up an antenna and watch local TV for free. Free podcasts are not going away; everybody can stop clutching their pearls and get a good night’s sleep now.

 

[PlainviewX]

I can't wait to never subscribe to this.

 

[robertcoogan]

Well, I don't care, really. I stopped listening to podcasts when Apple broke up iTunes into three apps. There went convenience.

 

[Zwhaler]

Not sure what the point of this would be..

Money.

 

[incoherent_1]

“According to the Journal, this new service will be built into the Apple Podcasts app...”

This would be the final kick in the pants I need to ditch the already terrible stock app and switch to a third party option. The last thing I need are ads all over the place and tapping to play a podcast and being told I need to subscribe to access it.

I guess they didn’t learn their lesson with the News app insanity after introducing the paid service there.

 

[one more]

With the information everywhere practically eagerly seeking to get into our brains from all directions, who would want to pay for podcasts? Same as Apple News. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[richpjr]

Can think of a single person who I would pay to listen to a podcast from.

 

[ggibson913]

I enjoy listening or watching a good podcast once in awhile but to be honest I would not pay for the privilege. Two things I will predict, not enough folks will want to pay for Podcasts to make such a service viable, and Rene Ritchie will tell us why paying Apple for a service we get free now is the greatest thing ever.

 

[1258186]

I hope this service does not succeed. Podcasts are one of the few remaining things I can enjoy for free.

 

[1258186]

If Apple's event had a live audience, they'd whoop and cheer about this — like their lives depended on it.

Half the audience are usually Apple staff. That’s why there is so much cheering.

 

[tgwaste]

Paying for podcasts. LOL.

 

[Rainshadow]

I hope this service does not succeed. Podcasts are one of the few remaining things I can enjoy for free.

I disagree. I won’t pay for a separate subscription service, but the current model isn’t entirely free.

1. ads - most are tolerable, but some have literally over 5 minutes of ads at the beginning and ends or each show. Not an exaggeration. (I listen to 1 hour+ podcasts usually). Others are littered every 10 minutes with ads. This is not free and a subscription tier would be no different than any other service if you could avoid ads.

2. Many of the podcasts I listen to have bonus episodes or content that is released monthly that you pay for to have access to. I don’t do that because I don’t want to pay each podcast a surcharge though many of them deserve it. If this were centralized, I would consider it.

if it ends ads, and allows bonus content, and funds those making these podcasts, I would pay for it - as long as it was part of AppleOne. Still don’t think I’d pay separately.

 

[sttrek341]

So is this a subscription service or more like Patreon?

I feel like it's more Patreon. Following along the lines of a YouTube "Channel Membership" or a Twitch "Sub." Where you are supporting the creator for $5/mo or whatever.