Is this the end of the free podcast?
journalists and indy broadcasters. And largely, there aren’t any rules, or paywalls.
Once a new episode is ready, producers upload their podcasts to their hosting platforms – and, providing they’ve submitted their RSS feed correctly – iTunes, SoundCloud, Spotify and Google Play will automatically crawl and display new episodes. Ready for listeners to consume – for free.
And that’s exactly what Spotify is hoping to change, and then make money from.
Right now, there’s nothing to encourage a listener to consume a podcast via the Spotify app rather than Apple or Android’s native Podcast app.
This is all about to change.
Spotify’s founder and chief executive, Daniel Ek, is hoping this acquisition will help his company get a leg up in the podcasting industry.
In a blog post, Ek said: ‘‘Based on radio industry data, we believe it is a safe assumption that, over time, more than 20 per cent of all Spotify listening will be non-music content’’.
‘‘This means the potential to grow much faster with more original programming – and to differentiate Spotify by playing to what makes us unique – all with the goal of becoming the world’s number one audio platform,’’ Ek said.
‘‘Our core business is performing very well. But as we expand deeper into audio, especially with original content, we will scale our entire business.’’
The purchase of Gimlet comes directly after Spotify reported its first-ever quarterly profit. It banked US$106m for the last three months of 2018.
As I see it, Spotify is in a very similar place to Netflix several years ago. Back then, Netflix was a popular video-streaming platform with zero original content.
As a business model, this is a weak position. It’s reliant on television and film production companies licensing content for less money than it charges its subscribers.
Today, thanks to shows like House of Cards, Stranger Things and Making a Murderer, Netflix draws in customers with its own quality content.
This move from Spotify is equally savvy. However, it also probably marks the start of the podcast wars.
A subscription to Spotify costs $22.50 in New Zealand. It’s a safe bet that exclusive podcasts will soon be another reason to attract customers to its platform, and away from its competition including Apple Music, Google Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and Tidal.
Is this a bad thing for podcasts? I honestly don’t know. It means they won’t be as easily accessible as they are currently. But it also probably means that money will be invested in production and professionalism.
There is one thing I do know. I would happily pay for a podcast subscription if it brings me more quality content. It’s a media that I love and can’t get enough of.
I’m not alone in my love of podcast. Recent research suggests that over a third of people from developed nations consume podcasts at least once a month.
Watch this space.