At the first event in 2021 yesterday, Apple announced “the next chapter of podcasting” with its Apple Podcasts subscriptions. It’s a new platform for podcasters that allows them to monetize their shows with subscription fees – conveniently available only to consumers through the Apple Podcasts app. Apple is positioning the new monetization method as separate premium products alongside existing free or ad-supported podcasts, and there are already numerous studios and independent podcasters lined up to become part of the service.
The move is just part of a bigger trend in the podcasting world, which has largely been kicked off by Spotify. The music streaming service is increasingly picking up exclusivity, holding some of our favorite content hostage with its awful app in the process. Amazon is also joining the game with originals and exclusives on Amazon Music and Audible, and Facebook has its own plans for audio content. Then there are smaller deals, like the one the NFL closed with iHeartMedia, and buys everywhere, like Pocket Casts taken over by a public radio group.
All these trends make me very concerned about the future of podcasts.
What’s the problem?
To understand why these moves feel scary to die-hard podcast listeners, let’s take a look at what podcasts are historically. A podcast is usually a series of audio or video episodes, often connected locally and with recurring hosts. In the past, almost all podcasts were distributed from their creators’ servers, accessible as direct downloads or through a client app of your choice. Most podcasts are free, ad-supported, or have a large corporation pulling the strings, making them one of the most affordable and accessible forms of entertainment without a corporate structure to support them (like YouTube).
With Apple, Spotify, and Amazon increasingly working towards tying creators to their platforms, we may lose this almost open source-esque aspect sooner rather than later. Apple’s push to the market feels particularly bad, as the podcast app is only available on its own devices. In any case, competitors such as Spotify and Amazon only connect you to specific services, not hardware.
It looks like we are in a landscape that we already know very well from the video streaming industry. If you want to keep up to date with the latest shows everyone is talking about, you have to subscribe to a plethora of services. I immediately think of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney +, but there are also offerings from HBO, Hulu, Paramount, Peacock, Apple TV +, Discovery +, and many more – we’re basically in the process of reverting to cable TV. The original dream of an all-encompassing Netflix catalog is long gone, and we have yet to rely on it another service to see all our content in a single interface.
My (German) entertainment folder is still relatively small, but I find the format annoying enough.
If this is the future of podcasts, following your favorite creators will become much more difficult in the not too distant future and you should be prepared to either stop consuming a bunch of shows or juggle multiple apps on your phones . When you choose the latter, you lose features such as queues, easy subscription management, and seamless downloads, which are integral to the podcasting experience for many people.
What’s in it for content creators?
That said, these exclusivity deals and premium plans are usually great for podcasters, especially independent podcasters. It helps them secure funding for a longer period of time and often gives them access to a highly engaged audience ready to switch to another platform to keep up to date with them. It’s a shame there aren’t too many other funding options for podcasters, and many currently rely on donations or voluntary Patreon subscriptions in addition to in-show ad segments.
The path we’re on may be bad for ease of use and a great listening experience, but it could be just what creators need to make podcast production a sustainable, self-serving business rather than an afterthought.
What better way?
While it’s probably long overdue given the trajectory of the market, I’d like to see things come out in a different way that could please content creators and listeners alike. We need look no further than current music streaming services. With a few exceptions, most streaming services offer the same music. You can listen to almost all your favorite artists on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal or whatever you want. In a perfect world, podcast creators could receive royalties per game, just like musicians do today, and you could choose your favorite podcast streaming service.
Of course, this solution isn’t perfect either. The music streaming market has its own set of problems, with smaller artists barely making enough money from streaming alone. Many musicians rely on merchandise and, to a greater extent, on touring. Since podcasters don’t enjoy as much public attention as musicians, such a strategy is unlikely to be feasible for them.
But I still like the idea of a market where I can select my podcast app based on my UX preferences, even if it means paying for another monthly subscription. At least that would mean I wouldn’t have to jump between Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and co to keep track of all my favorite spoken word content.
And what is Google up to?
As always, it seems like Google is just looking from the sidelines with a product that isn’t up to the challenge. The search giant’s Podcasts app may look sleek and may come pre-installed on all Android phones as part of the Google app, but it isn’t exactly well-advertised and doesn’t offer lock-in mechanisms or subscriptions. I personally like the experience for its syncing capabilities with Google Home and Nest devices, but Google may soon be left in the dust with little to no interesting content as larger podcast producers disappear due to exclusivity deals. In fact, don’t expect Google to be the knight in shining armor here.
Main photo: Austin Thistle on Unsplash.