If the current podcast app remained the same and podcast+ simply had a collection of participating podcasts with ads removed, I could get behind podcasts+ as a paid service.
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Apple Developing Podcast Subscription Service to Better Compete With Spotify
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I have a special deal with spotify. I guess you could say a promotion for life. I pay $7 a month for both spotify and hulu. If apple can give me a price like that and offer me music and say disney plus or apple tv+ I'd probably sign up for it.
James
James
The subscriptions tab in the App Store app already does that. Otherwise, I am using outflow to track my subscriptions, though the app hasn’t been updated in ages.
Update - Well, I’ll be. The app doesn’t even exist in the App Store anymore!
This business model doesn’t make sense. It’s feels more like Apple would simply pay select creators a fixed sum to produce content exclusively for their platform, similar to the Joe Rogan deal with Spotify. They would essentially become paid employees in this regard.
In this sense, their salaries would represent a fixed cost for Apple, while the money Apple earns from subscriptions would be a variable amount that has the potential to exceed to costs they have sunk in.
Not to mention that accounting gets complicated once all these subscriptions fold into Apple one. Like how do you even determine how much revenue to allocate as a result?
Sure, but that just makes existing podcasters a commodity for short term market share gain. It also ties personalities to your brand. I can't stand Joe Rogan, and as a result I dislike Spotify more than before they signed him.
Not everything has to directly pay for itself. Just like Apple TV+ and Prime Video are not funding its own development in subscriptions, helping me pay podcasters won't cover the cost of running a major podcast service. But it will add one more layer to the ecosystem that makes leaving harder.
I wonder if a podcast subscription service would be tied to Apple’s own podcast app. I use overcast and love it very much. I guess that’s one downside of so many subscription-based apps - that they lock you into their proprietary apps that very often aren’t all that good.
Spent $800 million but according to Citi it hasn't really benefited Spotify in any meaningful way
Spotify's big bet on podcasts is failing, Citi says
Analysts are looking for Spotify to show its podcast investments were worth it.www.cnbc.com
This is typical Wall Street hot air. It's way too early to judge.
Joe Rogan only went exclusive on 1st December, how long have they owned the Ringer and Gimlet? a year?
Wait, Spotify did that in 2019. How is 2 years "way too early to judge"?
I tried listening to Joe Rogan, but every time I did, he was saying some milquetoast thing or other and I just couldn't take all the bland. I'm allergic to subscriptions anyhow, but even if I wasn't, I sure wouldn't have thought, "oh boy, I've gotta pay for this, whoohoo!"
How about redesigning their app interface from the ground up, in order to compete with Spotify?
Tech subscriptions, Apple bundle for headphones, iMacs etc. Not sure how they square the environmental circle there though : /
Apple business goal is to increase revenue per customer. Its not enough for them to sell you a mac or an phone, and then wait until you are ready to upgrade, no, Apple wants ongoing monthly payments from its customers, this is the new Apple. So I'm not surprised they will introduce subscriptions for Podcasts. And maybe, according to Loup Ventures analysts, subscriptions for others.
Revenue per customer. This is what matters to Apple.
Revenue per customer. This is what matters to Apple.
Nothing wrong with that, IMO. Ultimately, nobody is twisting the arms of the consumers and forcing them to subscribe. And this also helps to keep hardware pricing lower than they otherwise would be, so either way, users win.
Good luck with that Apple. Although I believe podcasts are important and there should be a potential for the creators to make money from them, they are still like mental torture for me. But hey we are all different and I know there are many who really enjoy them.
Apple currently offers a $0/m podcast subscription service which is much better value than the spotify one!
Yes they can, if they want to invite immediate antitrust scrutiny because they don't let competing Audiobook services, such as Audible, sell their books in their iOS app without coughing up a cut.