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Subscription podcasts are the new front in the big tech platform wars, with both Apple and Spotify unveiling ways for creators and media companies to take payments from listeners directly through their respective apps.
But the push could also disrupt the traditionally democratised space, with fears that smaller independent players could be further driven to the margins under the new podcast paradigm.
Spotify already operates the world's largest paid music service, and is now challenging Apple as the dominant way people listen to podcasts.Credit:Bloomberg
Apple’s offering promises to make it easier for listeners to support their favourite shows, compared to the current subscription solutions available to content creators, which involve community funding services like Patreon or Ko-Fi. Listeners can pay for subscriptions directly through the iPhone’s Podcasts app and in return can access early, ad-free or exclusive episodes.
The market for premium podcasts is growing but previously has been decentralised. For example the Welcome to Nightvale podcast has more than 4000 subscribers of Patreon, all paying at least $7 every month for various perks, but each member can listen to that content wherever they want. Podcast apps are largely content agnostic.
But Apple’s move could herald a big shift where listeners discover, subscribe and listen to podcasts all inside the same app. And while the program is open for all podcasters, Apple’s hefty 30 per cent commission on every subscription payment (moving to 15 per cent if a subscriber keeps paying for more than a year and has auto-renew active) may make it untenable for all but the biggest and most well-resourced shows.
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“We’ve been trying to work out how many subscribers you would need to have to be able to make a profit, from the base fee and then Apple taking 30 per cent,” said Amy Donaldson, co-host of psychology podcast Two Shrinks Pod, who has only recently begun exploring opportunities to monetise the show.
“Less than half of our listeners listen on Apple Podcasts, so you have to think ‘okay, who would be up for moving to this platform to continue listening?’ Or would we need to keep hosting it on multiple platforms, and is the workload with that outweighed by the potential benefit of being promoted or having access to a larger range of subscribers.”
Ms Donaldson is also worried that Apple’s move means it now has a vested interest in promoting podcasts it was making money from, which could hurt independent podcast creators that can’t afford to move over from community-based subscription methods that take less commission.