Spotify explores podcast subscriptions, but unlike Apple, it won’t charge creators

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

At its Spring Loaded event earlier this week, Apple introduced podcast subscriptions that will be rolled out for creators next month. The company will charge creators a monthly fee of $19.99 per year, while allowing them to set the price for their content that listeners will pay for. It looks like Apple will soon have some competition from another major player in the world of podcasts – Spotify. As per a report from TheWallStreetJournal, Spotify aims to diversify its financial stream by offering subscriptions.

“Apple’s podcast subscription, which rolls out next month to users, will have company. Spotify plans to announce its own offering next week, according to people familiar with the matter.”

Apple takes a healthy 30% cut from the subscription revenue. Spotify won't!

But more importantly, Spotify is not going to charge content creators – unlike Apple, which is collecting a fee of $19.99 on an annual basis as part of the Apple Podcasters Program. What is even more interesting is the fact that Spotify is not going to take a cut from the subscription revenue generated by creators, and will also allow them to set the price they want to charge their audience. Apple, on the other hand, take a 30% cut as part of its standard in-app purchase policy for the App Store.

Spotify has lately given a huge push to podcasts on its platform as the competition heats up with the arrival of big names in the game. Spotify launched video podcasts last year for both free and premium users. And earlier this month, Facebook announced a partnership with Spotify that will allow users to hear podcasts pulled from the streaming platform in the social media app itself. Spotify has also announced plans of entering the domain of live audio chatroom, a trend popularized by Clubhouse last year.

Spotify player integration in the Facebook app is also in the pipeline

Looking over to the competition, Amazon Music introduced podcasts in September last year, roping in some popular names such as DJ Khaled, Becky G, and Will Smith for exclusive content. Amazon then followed it by acquiring podcast-maker Wondery a few months later and merged it with the Amazon Music division. Less than a month later in January of 2021, Twitter announced the acquisition of Breaker, the self-proclaimed podcast app with a social media touch.

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