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Spotify Poised to Surpass Apple Podcasts in U.S. Listeners This Year
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Really? I had to listen to a spotify exclusive podcast for the first time the other day, as it was relevant to something we're working on.
It first went wrong when the link shared to me was to the wrong episode... human error maybe but the interface is confusing and I wasn't happy to reach the end or the episode with the relevant topic never coming up. I also had problems getting it to play - had to try multiple times.
And when we listened later in the car, twice it didn't send audio over bluetooth and had to be fixed my force quitting spotify. That time was on my partner's phone, luckily she wasn't driving or we'd have given up.
Never had any of those problems with Apple or Overcast.
The experience wasn't good at all.
Problem 1 is user error. Problem 2 is iOS bug. I use Spotify for at least 10 hours a day and have never encountered this but have encountered iOS being trash and cutting off audio for an app until app restart
Spotify is just a better app. The apple music/podcast platform is horrendous to use..
Just started listening again via the Spotify app and my free level subscription. The only difference to the JRE that I have seen is that the ads pop in about 5-10 minutes after the start of the podcast, they are easy to skip but it is a little annoying compared to how he used to do it. Point is no need to pay unless you really hate teh adz!
Powerful JRE!
Apple's podcast app is unintuitive, messy, and buggy. I find Spotify's podcast UI to be better and more user friendly. The only downside is that it's only their mobile podcast experience that's good. The Spotify Mac app is rudimentary for podcasts.
Just like weather apps, I have yet to find a podcast app that really satisfies all of my desires.
Just like weather apps, I have yet to find a podcast app that really satisfies all of my desires.
Leave it to you to make excuses for Apple's failing. It doesn't "a lot like the whole “google play store has more users, but lower revenue” paradigm all over again" nonsense. It sounds exactly like what it is - Spotify is FAR and ahead of Apple in the podcast market. Apple had YEARS, repeat YEARS ahead of everyone in the podcast segment and they completely sh** the bed and let it languish and dissolve.
It does play them is Sequential Order just have to select it as an option. The default option is the most popular one which is to get the latest episode. Per podcast, you can change these settings as well, downloads all (great for a series) or just download latest (good for news-based podcast).
Overcast might be going down if the lawsuit with Epic and the individual State bills pass. Overcast (and a few other podcast apps) rely on Apple's podcast feed which Apple doesn't officially offer it as a service but as they start to tighten up services it might be one that gets locked up. (See Google Map 2018)
Apple made some beautiful hardware over the years, love my MacBook Air M1 and my iPad is a great device too.
Maybe I am not computer savvy enough but I never could make use of Apple's services.
In the early 2000's I lost countless hours trying to manage my music through iTunes, finally gave up a few years later loosing all the music on my iPad never being able to extract it from there. Then was happy on Android as I just had to drag and drop my mp3s the same way you copy files from a drive to another. Then I went to Spotify.
My tries with iCloud were the same, never could figure really how it worked. Don't understand how Apple can make such a mess when services like Dropbox and Google drive are so simple to use.
Maybe I am not computer savvy enough but I never could make use of Apple's services.
In the early 2000's I lost countless hours trying to manage my music through iTunes, finally gave up a few years later loosing all the music on my iPad never being able to extract it from there. Then was happy on Android as I just had to drag and drop my mp3s the same way you copy files from a drive to another. Then I went to Spotify.
My tries with iCloud were the same, never could figure really how it worked. Don't understand how Apple can make such a mess when services like Dropbox and Google drive are so simple to use.
I have never disliked Apple Podcast app.. until this recent iOS... I tried 10 alternatives and none were ask good.... I hope Apple fixes this terrible app update, though. I have not tried Spotify as I don't listen to my music with Spotify.
Well, Apple has completely dropped the ball in terms of app design, so it's no wonder. Apple Music is horrible compared to Spotify. Everything from play list management to discovering new music is worse on Apple.
The only reason I have Apple Music is that Homepod requires it for a seamless experience. I am trapped in the Apple eco-system for Homepod and I not happy about it.
I used to listen to audiobooks on Apple iTunes but on Apple Books I can't even sort audiobook chapters that are out of order. Lacking basic functionality. It is quite shocking that Apple is so bad at this basic stuff, given the size of their company
The only reason I have Apple Music is that Homepod requires it for a seamless experience. I am trapped in the Apple eco-system for Homepod and I not happy about it.
I used to listen to audiobooks on Apple iTunes but on Apple Books I can't even sort audiobook chapters that are out of order. Lacking basic functionality. It is quite shocking that Apple is so bad at this basic stuff, given the size of their company
You hate to see companies that take the customer-friendly model that’s existed, bork it up with premium fees and exclusives, and then be rewarded for it.
I won’t listen to podcasts that have exclusives deals or are on a paid tier. It’s backwards. Especially with Clubhouse-and-similar apps appearing... there’s plenty of free content out there for now.
I won’t listen to podcasts that have exclusives deals or are on a paid tier. It’s backwards. Especially with Clubhouse-and-similar apps appearing... there’s plenty of free content out there for now.
Not all premium subscribers are equal either.
There’s a subscriber in India or Indonesia who’s paying like $2 a month for Spotify, vs someone in the US who’s paying the full $10 a month. Both are paid subscribers on paper, yet one clearly earns the company more money than the other.
The point I am trying to make is that Spotify has made the concept of premium subscriptions meaningless. The average revenue per paying subscribers has fallen to $12 a quarter (1887/155), or $4 a month, which is less than half that of a US subscription. My guess is that Apple has more Apple Music subscriptions in developed countries where consumers have more spending power and can thus pay the full $10 (or as close to it as possible).
I look at the earnings report you link, and what I am seeing is that Spotify is basically finding it increasingly harder to get new users to pay for their service. Which will be their bigger challenge moving forward.
They do, indirectly.
Every minute spent listening to a podcast is a minute spent not listening to music, which means Spotify pays out less in streaming fees.
Podcasts represent a fixed cost (you pay Joe Rogan a flat fee, and it’s the same whether 1 person or 1 million people listen to him). Streaming is a variable costs (the more people stream, the more you pay). Get enough people to switch from listening music to listening to Joe Rogan, and you actually end up saving money.
Personally, I don’t think Apple is too worried here, so long as people continue to consume these services on their hardware. In the US at least, I believe that a sizeable number of iphone users use Apple Music over spotify. That said, Apple should absolutely continue to monitor Spotify to figure out where said company is headed, then try to get there first, using its own innate hardware advantage and a broader platform that it can use to bundle / integrate everything together.
Are you sure you want Apple to gatekeep the podcasting community like what Spotify is doing? Granted, Apple may feel that they have no choice but to enter the market if they think that they are losing too many users to Spotify’s app, but people should absolutely be careful of what they wish for here.
I will never use Spotify. It's a third rate company with third rate values.
That app was like peak overdone skeuomorphism, but also I loved it. It was so clearly a labor of love how the controls would come up from behind the artwork and look like a tape player. So clever, but also… completely nuts.
