Paid podcasts: Spotify and Apple, same fight?

Update April 28, 2021: Spotify hasofficially announcedlaunching the new monetization option for podcasts. See details at the end of the article.

In a few days, Spotify couldannounce its paid podcast formula, which would be similar to what Apple will soon offer. Because, let us remember, for those who have not readour summary of the Californian's last keynote, a paid podcast offering is being prepared in Cupertino, integrated into the Apple Podcasts app. The two streaming music giants could therefore come to fight on the same ground in the coming weeks.

Let's talk money

The Cupertino company has already announced that any content creator for its paid podcast offering will have to subscribe to the programApple Podcastersvia the platformApple Connect. And this will have a cost:$19.99 per yearfor American podcast creators, €19.99 in France, we imagine.

The program will contain all the tools to easily publish paid content. The floor price allowed by Apple will be $0.49 cents per month for one or more podcast shows. In fact, like the iOS App Store, each creator will be able tohimself set a price to payevery month to enjoy its premium content.

This is therefore not a subscription offer to Apple TV+ or Apple News+, in which you subscribe to an offer offered by Apple at a fixed rate for a large catalog of content. But the model will be similar to an iTunes for movies or an application store, with each user choosing for themselves which podcast they want to subscribe to from a wide choice.

And this catalog will a priori already be provided at launch. Apple announced partnerships with Tenderfoot TV, Pushkin Industries, Radiotopia, NPR, as well as the Los Angeles Times, The Athletic and Sony Music Entertainment.

The betting tax of course

As with any other Apple service, the American company will not hesitate to levy a tax on sales and therefore subscriptions for paid podcasts. This tax will amount to15 % pourthe first year of using the Apple Podcasters program, then30 %from the second year.

And at Spotify? nothing to pay!

According toinformation from the Wall Street Journal, with its offer of paid podcasts, Spotify will take a very different route: the Swedish will not ask anything from the creators of paid content. Another advantage in favor of Spotify is the availability of the mobile app on iOS, but also on Android, as well as a web application allowing any subscriber to benefit from the platform from almost any machine. Not to mention Spotify's number of users, the highest in the streaming music service market.

This new war of paid podcasts will therefore be very interesting to observe.

Would you be willing to subscribe to a podcast to enjoy more exclusive content?

Updated April 28, 2021

As indicated at the start of the article, Spotify made the new feature official a few hours ago: it is possible for podcast creators to monetize their content on Spotify. But be careful, only American users are affected for the moment, the Swede plans a gradual deployment of change across the world over the coming months.

How does it work?

This functionality is offered by the serviceAnchor, which allows the creation of podcasts, but also uploading to various online streaming services, including Spotify. Creators can choose which of their episodes are accessible for free, and which are “premium”, accessible only via subscription.

On the listener side, paid content is marked with aclosed padlockon Spotify. To unblock them, you must pay the requested amount, not on Spotify directly, but via Anchor.

How much does it cost?

On the creator side, as specified above, the podcast monetization functionality isfree…At least until 2023. From this date, Spotify will take 5% of revenue generated by premium content!

For users, several possible prices depending on the choice imposed by the creator: $2.99 ​​per month, $4.99 per month or $7.99 per month. We can imagine the same prices in €: 2.99, 4.99 or 7.99 € per month.

However, nothing indicates whether it will be possible to enjoy premium podcasts by paying for the Anchor subscription,but without paying the Spotify premium subscription. The Swedish in fact gives access to its content in a free mode with advertisements via its web app and its Mac/Windows app.

We can therefore clearly see two systems emerging, each with its own particularities. Apple Podcasts seems the most convenient for the user, while Spotify seems more interesting for creators in terms of remuneration.

What do you think?

SeeSpotify's official publication on the subject.

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.