Choice pods worth shelling out for

There’s more than a million podcasts out now, so you shouldn’t feel stuck for things to listen to. However, you might be missing out if you haven’t tried a paid podcast subscription service.

Just as there is a choice of TV streaming services, there are a number of good podcast apps to choose from, many with exclusive shows.

Spotify made the news recently for acquiring the most popular podcast on the planet for US$100 million (NZ$156m), in a move to make it synonymous with podcasting.

The music streaming giant acquired The Joe Rogan Experience, and will stream it exclusively from September 1.

Spotify famously bought Gimlet Media last year for US$230m (NZ$359m), and with it came shows like Heavyweight and Crimetown, and it now has exclusives with

WTF with Marc Meron and

Amy Schumer.

Spotify’s app includes support for audio and video podcasts, along with a nifty Spoken Word section.

Users can subscribe to individual podcasts, manage downloads, and share podcasts through social media.

I’m not a huge fan of the management options on the app, but it’s convenient to use if you already use Spotify for streaming music.

Another podcast app is Stitcher, which has a free service, as well as a paywalled premium subscription service.

As the name suggests, you can ‘‘stitch together’’ podcasts into a customised playlist, and you get access to the latest episodes of podcasts without downloading or syncing.

Stitcher Premium’s big advantage is the ad-free bonus episodes and archive episodes of shows, as well as personalised show recommendations based on your listening history.

Finally, the newest paid subscription podcast to hit New Zealand is Luminary, which has styled itself as the Netflix of podcasting overseas.

It has a library of exclusive shows, including the brilliant Fiasco with Leon Neyfakh, Trevor Noah’s On Second Thought and Under the Skin with Russell Brand.

All podcast episodes are ad-free, and there’s a monthly and annual subscription option.

The Luminary app’s features include search, playback controls and offline mode.