Report: Apple Podcasts Favors Shows With Subscriptions

[MacRumors]

Apple favors podcasts in its "Browse" tab that participate in its subscriptions program, according to Semafor.

To be featured at the top of Apple Podcasts' Browse tab, creators simply have to submit a form to Apple, but the report noted that, last week, five of the first seven shows in the "Browse" carousel in the Apple Podcasts app were participants in Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.

Apple launched podcast subscriptions in 2021, allowing creators to offer premium content to their audience, such as bonus episodes and exclusive segments, in exchange for a small subscription fee. Apple, in return, takes up to a 30 percent cut of the revenue generated from these subscriptions.

One executive at an independent podcast told Semafor that Apple explicitly said to them that podcast subscription enrolment would help their chances of being promoted in the carousel, while another remarked that Apple Podcasts Subscriptions was worth participating in simply for in-app placement advantages. An individual at Apple added that the Apple Podcasts app is now designed to offer more features to shows that participate in the subscription program, with several key slots reserved for this purpose.

Article Link: Report: Apple Podcasts Favors Shows With Subscriptions

 

[contacos]

EU like: excuse me!

 

[Amazing Iceman]

So what’s the problem?
When you go to a store, the Clearance section is all the way in the back.
Some small stores will put some clearance items in the front to bring people in, but the big stores don’t need to do that.
Once again, what’s the problem?

 

[boak]

There's nothing wrong with that though? This could be even better than paying for a spot in the carousel, where an increase in subscriptions is not guaranteed. Apple basically only charges a commission when the promotion succeeds here.

 

[klasma]

So what’s the problem?
When you go to a store, the Clearance section is all the way in the back.
Some small stores will put some clearance items in the front to bring people in, but the big stores don’t need to do that.
Once again, what’s the problem?

The problem is everything having to be about money. Podcasts didn’t used to be about that (and luckily mostly still aren’t outside Apple and Spotify). Also luckily Apple still allows third-party podcast apps without asking a cut of whatever the podcasts they provide access to may happen to make.

 

[DMG35]

Man, Apple seems to do shadier and shadier things every day. I still love their products but they do raise my brows seemingly every other day.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

The problem is everything having to be about money. Podcasts didn’t used to be about that (and luckily mostly still aren’t outside Apple and Spotify). Also luckily Apple still allows third-party podcast apps without asking a cut of whatever the podcasts they provide access to may happen to make.

But those days are mostly gone. Podcasts started out as randoms in their basement recording on their laptop mics, now many of them are professional operations that people rely on to feed their families. There are still some of the former around, but we're kidding ourselves if we don't look at podcasts as a business.

 

[Morod]

Apple, what has happened to you? How have you lost your way? Maybe time for you to team up with Johnny Rotton for the Filthy Lucre Tour, part deux…

 

[klasma]

But those days are mostly gone. Podcasts started out as randoms in their basement recording on their laptop mics, now many of them are professional operations that people rely on to feed their families. There are still some of the former around, but we're kidding ourselves if we don't look at podcasts as a business.

I‘m okay that those exist, but Apple being hell-bent on taking an extra cut of every service and content you access through an Apple device is an abuse of their position. The bicycle for your mind turned into a vacuum for your wallet. It literally sucks.

 

[vakarpochui]

But those days are mostly gone. Podcasts started out as randoms in their basement recording on their laptop mics, now many of them are professional operations that people rely on to feed their families. There are still some of the former around, but we're kidding ourselves if we don't look at podcasts as a business.

Why should i care about that?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with the bill? He can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy, he can call Paulie. But now the guy's gotta come up with Paulie's money every week, no matter what

 

[truthsteve]

hearsay

or maybe I don't know, people who are paying for content means said content is likely high quality therefore it is suggested????

semafor is a joke

 

[fatTribble]

For me, any one of these efforts by Apple to make a buck doesn’t bother me. The concern I have is the cumulative effect where their apps look more and more like commercials.

I used to think Apple featured shows, apps or podcasts because they were new, good or popular.
It’s obvious now that Featured means Profitable.

At this point I already avoid the TV app by having disconnected streaming services from it. I no longer browse the App Store just to see what’s new.

When you shove something in someone’s face the natural reaction is to pull back.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Last time I looked you could subscribe to every podcast on earth, bc that’s how podcasts work. Someone over there keeps making a continual effort to break up the beautiful simplicity of what podcasts fundamentally are & complicate it with groups, channels, stations, the inexplicable listen now/browse/library/search redundancy & Microsoft-bad screen wasting ui designs with minimized controls that take more and stupidly precise taps to operate, all still running on a backend that still can’t remember to keep your downloads current over Wi-Fi until it’s too late and you’re in the car & open the app trying to listen to something. And it still isn’t integrated into the home screen resume playback control.

Twenty years ago podcasts were a single simple ui screen in iTunes that showed you everything you needed to know and gave you clear accessible playback controls all in a single efficient layout. Apple should familiarize themselves with what a nice job they used to do.

 

[Steve121178]

Man, Apple seems to do shadier and shadier things every day. I still love their products but they do raise my brows seemingly every other day.

It's not shady behaviour, they are just a very greedy company and everything is about subscriptions & service revenue these days.

I'm sure with whatever they do with AI they'll be a cheapo peasant free tier version and the full-fat "Pro" version that will come with a subscription cost. It's the Apple way.

 

[klasma]

There's nothing wrong with that though? This could be even better than paying for a spot in the carousel, where an increase in subscriptions is not guaranteed. Apple basically only charges a commission when the promotion succeeds here.

It’s wrong in that it disadvantages free podcasts who just make a little money on the side with ads and/or donations. It incentivizes podcasts to change to a subscription model, which is exactly what Apple wants, but is to the detriment of consumers.

 

[klasma]

Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with the bill? He can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy, he can call Paulie. But now the guy's gotta come up with Paulie's money every week, no matter what

Apple should introduce a weekly Core Protection Fee.

 

[madmin]

Monetize moi !?

 

[gatorvet96]

It's not shady behaviour, they are just a very greedy company and everything is about subscriptions & service revenue these days.

I'm sure with whatever they do with AI they'll be a cheapo peasant free tier version and the full-fat "Pro" version that will come with a subscription cost. It's the Apple way.

I'm not sure I would call it greedy. It is simply what all publicly trade corporations need to do. Grow Revenue. Period. Shareholders expect that. So Apple as in every other company, has to grow year after year. I am an investor in Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, and NVIDIA. I expect that stock to grow every single year as part of my retirement. So they need to find ways to generate revenue. With EU rules and US impending they will lose some growth there and need to make up for it elsewhere. Just a fact of capitalism, right or wrong.

 

[Populus]

I’ve noticed the same with apps. Some of the apps I use, which I already bought with a one time purchase, when I look up for them on the App Store, they appear after several scrolls, pretty down on the screen.

However, all the apps that I see on top of that search, while scrolling, are subscription-based apps.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

I‘m okay that those exist, but Apple being hell-bent on taking an extra cut of every service and content you access through an Apple device is an abuse of their position. The bicycle for your mind turned into a vacuum for your wallet. It literally sucks.

They don’t build and grow platforms for some charitable purpose. Apple is a business and it’s executives dutifully bound to maximize profits as much as possible in conjunction with maintaining the health of the company.

Why should i care about that?

It helps to be aware of the world as it exists as opposed to banging your head against the wall due to the fact that it doesn’t exist as you would prefer.

 

[erikkfi]

When this subscriptions thing was announced I immediately switched from the Apple Podcasts app. This is why. Apple is once again trying to subscription-ize a business and then take an unreasonable cut. Thank goodness I have other choices, unlike with App Stores and browsers. I bet it gives Eddy Cue heartburn that they ever allowed third-party podcasting apps.

 

[vakarpochui]

They don’t build and grow platforms for some charitable purpose. Apple is a business and it’s executives dutifully bound to maximize profits as much as possible in conjunction with maintaining the health of the company.



It helps to be aware of the world as it exists as opposed to banging your head against the wall due to the fact that it doesn’t exist as you would prefer.

Tell that to the train operator or sewage worker. He also has a family.

 

[klasma]

They don’t build and grow platforms for some charitable purpose. Apple is a business and it’s executives dutifully bound to maximize profits as much as possible in conjunction with maintaining the health of the company.

This is very American view of business. There is absolutely no necessity to maximize profits in order to have a healthy business. It’s also a myth that there would be a duty towards shareholders to maximize profits. And if there was, we should rally against it, because it’s not beneficial to customers and not healthy for society. Profits should be a means to an end, not the end itself.

 

[Ctrlos]

The people who edit the App Store should do the opposite and only promote apps that sell for an upfront fee. The subscription model for every app is ridiculous.