Apple Looking to Buy Exclusive Original Podcasts to Compete With Spotify and Promote Apple TV+

[Osamede]

This crap is bad for podcasting. The whole point of podcasting is it’s not exclusive and it doesn’t have some built-in advertising spam

Couldn't have put it better myself. Podcasts do not need the the same old "monetization" poison.

Podcasts are currently a far more useful and thoughtful medium for news and commentary than the old-school and new-tech big business usual suspects. Why do they always need to rush in with their money and ruin anything good that society has?

Really disappointed in Apple.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Think I might have to start up a podcast and get myself some of this exclusive money

 

[UltimaKilo]

Joe Rogan going to Spotify was a huge loss. You don’t easily recover from losing the biggest podcast on the planet.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Joe Rogan going to Spotify was a huge loss. You don’t easily recover from losing the biggest podcast on the planet.

Who is "losing" Joe Rogan?

His show is still free... you'll just have to use another app to watch/listen.

It might be an inconvenience... but I'm not seeing the "loss" here.

I guess you can say Youtube won't be getting any of that sweet advertising revenue anymore... but we shouldn't be crying for them.

 

[brinary001]

I don't think Joe Rogan is the kinda content Apple wants to hitch their ride to.

Well regardless of whatever you think of him, he has an unprecedented 200 million listeners a month, most of whom will now be lured into Spotify‘s monetization trap which as a result will make them richer than God - as well as Apple’s worst nightmare streaming competitor - so I’d say Apple is kicking themselves a little tonight, wouldn’t you?

 

[twinlight]

He is moving because youtube is demoneytizing everything controversial. Say the word corona, bam!, no money for your ads. Talk about the wrong politician, no money.

I have both spotify and apple music. I have never wanted podcasts inside spotify. maybe I could swallow this if they had a working app on the Watch.

I listen to alot of Joe Rogan and sometimes I watch it on YouTube so I can follow along better about what they are talking about. Doing it in Spotify? Pass.

I had more hope for a paid tier of Apple Podcast without ads, with video and other extras maybe. But I think JRE is to controversial for Apple anyway.

 

[foobarbaz]

Why exklusive? I’m never going to listen to these, I already have more than enough …
But if I could pay someone to get rid of ads, I’d do it in a heartbeat (but I don’t want to have 10 different subscriptions at 5$/month either)

 

[DeepIn2U]

JRE to Spotify is HUGE!

That was early this weeks news ... the convo on that is pretty much dead. The convo now is about exclusivity and how it really can ruin Podcasts as a whole.
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This started long before Rogan's deal, he's just the latest acquisition.

Whom before JRE had such a majority financial exclusive deal? I know of Sirius Radio and that talk show radio guy that used to have a late night TV show with some midget called BeatleJuice (pure jokes) ... Howard something. Yet he's always been in radio and for over 2 decades the classic FM radio was drying up for funds and payments ... so he HAD to get an exclusive deal while the getting was GOOD.

I'm starting to wonder the same for Joe Rogan and the JRE show yet for him he's got video and pretty decent guests that attract lots of listeners as a 1 time appearance. I'm VERY curious how his viewership numbers scale with big names like Elon Musk or Mike Tyson appearing on his show vs just talking about them or just random topics??

I believe after 2yrs the JRE will begin to taper off due to bordem from the average user. Anyone else remember Fear Factor and how quick he jumped off that?

 

[Abazigal]

Well regardless of whatever you think of him, he has an unprecedented 200 million listeners a month, most of whom will now be lured into Spotify‘s monetization trap which as a result will make them richer than God - as well as Apple’s worst nightmare streaming competitor - so I’d say Apple is kicking themselves a little tonight, wouldn’t you?

I am not sure what you think Apple could have done here in hindsight.

Yes, Apple may have popularised the whole podcast format, but till now, they pretty much left the podcast industry to grow on its own without any interference on their end. And the customers have been better off for it.

For one, we were free to listen to podcasts in the app of our choice. Now, Joe Rohan’s podcast will be exclusive to Spotify, which means no smart speed or smart boost functionality from Overcast.

And as it stands, Apple appears to have no interest in trying to monetise this space, which is probably for the best as well.

The best thing that could happen right now is for as few people to migrate over to Spotify as possible, else they will simply be incentivised to acquire even more podcasts.

Else, if and when Apple does decide to join in the bidding war, things will get ugly.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Which is why Apple is destined to lose in the entertainment realm. Everything they produce or broadcast will need to be safe, bland, inoffensive, and ultra PC.

I don't know that I would classify The Morning Show, See, or Beastie Boys (the only things I've seen so far) as any of those things. Rated R, Rated R and Rated R...
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JRE to Spotify is HUGE!

I'm not so sure about that. For Spotify, seems like a huge waste of money... they're paying him, but it's still free. So you need to use their app? I guess they think people that have never installed it may be curious enough to subscribe... but I think people that have never installed it before are going to see the free tier... which they lose money on.

I don't think it impacts Joe Rogan in any way other than he has a guaranteed salary now from doing it. Could be more than he was making from sponsors, could be less... but it's a known number now.

 

[Jyby]

Science Rules!

 

[tennisproha]

They first need to fix that abomination they call the Podcast app.

 

[Dahl]

Should’ve done this BEFORE Joe Budden and Joe Rogan signed with Spotify.

Apple behind the ball again

While I'm not sure they should have signed Joe Rogan, Apple needs to act faster and not wait so long.

I think they are in a bit of a brand dilemma with their services. Apple wants to sign NPR and HBO type of talent, but the masses enjoy reality shows and low-brow podcasts. Apple is still about quality, but it takes time to make and Netflix and Spotify don't wait as long to make moves.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Should’ve done this BEFORE Joe Budden and Joe Rogan signed with Spotify.

Apple behind the ball again

Spotify is plucking these already long established and successful podcasts right out of Apple’s backyard. Apple’s creation of original content has been a massive nope for most people thus far. Last Podcast on the Left (already moved to Spotify) and Joe Rogan (going to move) are 2 of the top podcasts I listen to. A couple more of my favorites do the same and I’ll have very little reason to use Apple’s podcasts. I’m always open to finding new podcasts but I, and I think many others, can be quite lazy about where we find them as evidenced by all the responses from people complaining about the Herculean task of using more than 1 app. We’re a silly species when we’re not being destructive.

 

[ipedro]

Apple has been sitting on podcasts for over a decade, eventually embracing it but doing very little if anything at all to contribute to the medium. Finally took some healthy competition to get them off their butts. Finally.

I listen to podcasts every day but damnit, as much as I try to use Apple’s podcast app because of cross compatibility with my iPhone, iPad, Mac, AppleTV and HomePod, it’s a mess.

They need to rebuild it from the ground up. Maybe bring Marco Arment in to integrate Overcast’s flow and technology into the official Podcast app or just reskin it and call it a day.

I will say, even though I’m not a big fan of skeuomorphism, there was something very pleasant about the original podcast app with its reel to reel visuals. It’s nice to have something to look at when listening to a podcast.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple has been sitting on podcasts for over a decade, eventually embracing it but doing very little if anything at all to contribute to the medium. Finally took some healthy competition to get them off their butts. Finally.

I listen to podcasts every day but damnit, as much as I try to use Apple’s podcast app because of cross compatibility with my iPhone, iPad, Mac, AppleTV and HomePod, it’s a mess.

They need to rebuild it from the ground up. Maybe bring Marco Arment in to integrate Overcast’s flow and technology into the official Podcast app or just reskin it and call it a day.

I will say, even though I’m not a big fan of skeuomorphism, there was something very pleasant about the original podcast app with its reel to reel visuals. It’s nice to have something to look at when listening to a podcast.

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Are you sure you really want Apple to start acquiring exclusive podcasts and introduce their own paid subscription to access them?

 

[kmj2318]

No one seems to be talking about it, but I see the issue involving Youtube more than just the podcast players. Rogan had many problems with Youtube, with how they derank things in their algorithm, and being unable to play any music or videos without getting a copy strike notice. The same went for Joe Budden, whose podcast is all about music. Youtube's rules just suck and know they at least get some competition.

 

[BMox81]

Totally get the reasoning of people and the whole podcasts are meant to be free argument, but I guess I'm in the minority in that I don't mind using Spotify for my podcasts - it's cross platform, apps everywhere and now everything I listen to music and podcasts wise is within one app.

Sure I listen to a few Patreon pods and would I prefer it if Spotify allowed the ability to input custom RSS feeds? Sure. But they don't, so I just listen to them in the Patreon app.

 

[Otaviano]

I don't think Joe Rogan is the kinda content Apple wants to hitch their ride to.

Says someone who clearly has never listen to an episode.