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Comment by graeme | Hacker News Reader

This is rather funny, because all the incentives are backwards. Joe Rogan used to be available on rss, and anyone could listen in any podcast player.

Now Spotify bought him out, limiting his reach and making him only available on spotify. If the employees succeed, Rogan will revert to rss and become....more widely available.

I am deeply opposed to Spotify’s efforts to close off the podcast ecosystem, so I hope the employees succeed.

This does highlight a change in what Spotify is trying to do. They’re attempting to become a podcast publisher, rather than an app with podcasts available. With music they’re merely a conduit for the most part.

(Not sure if Rogan has left rss yet, but this wouldn’t change the argument. He’s due to if he hasn’t)

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But RSS distribution is hard to monetize. That's why a big part of the JRE podcast business model was uploading the videos to YouTube and also create all the highlights and such.

But in YouTube they got several videos demonetized, so there's really no escape.

This is the distribution problem. If you don't have distribution and rely on others for that you have to play by their rules even if they are ridiculous or broken.

I think that the canonical solution for Spotify would be to not run ads on the "controversial" episodes. Either way it doesn't affect JR since his contract seems to be lump sums of money for keep creating the content.

> But RSS distribution is hard to monetize.

I wonder how true this really is. Several podcasts I listen to use Patreon, and based on subscriber numbers they are doing quite well for themselves.

Some of these podcasts offer vanity perks from Patreon, some lock away exclusive content that's only available there. But to access that exclusive content, the technology you use is... RSS.

Being on Spotify and being exclusively on Spotify is not the same.

Given his reach he can make good money doing commericals within the podcast itself and do perhaps commerical free deal with Spotify.

Distribution is not that hard, discovery is hard . Monetization is hard.

Distribution is fairly easy today , it is not like 80s or 90s where distribution meant cassette and cd in every retailer. In 2000s the tech was possible but not cheap enough for a independent producer. Today the tech is accessible too.

> Distribution is not that hard, discovery is hard

I think you and I have different definitions of distribution. I'm not talking about being able to "distribute" your content per se. I'm talking about getting enough reach which is a way harder problem.

Just because you can upload videos to YouTube doesn't mean that you will automatically get traffic. Distribution in this context is not only the podcast being able to have content in x or y platform, but rather having prime time treatment so it reaches more audiences.

> But RSS distribution is hard to monetize.

There’s quite a few podcasts with in show ads doing quite well. I think it’s possible to make more money through youtube, Spotify, etc. But it’s not hard to make money, it’s just possible to make more using techniques that are more closed.

I mean proprietary app stores make more money than open platforms, but yet Linux still exists and independent software devs with their own storefronts still exist.

Wonder how much he monetizes from the in show ads.

Spotify is buying but Joe choose that path too. I understand the concern but maybe there is something about the market that makes selling to a closed ecosystem more attractive?

That doesn't mean Spotify has to help him out. They do promote his show, as well as provide hosting, and manage subscriptions for 181,000 users.

I’ve heard another take that Spotify ownership allows them to play almost any music because JRE inherits Spotify’s license to play it.

Also this is a licensing deal for a set period. Ownership of JRE itself doesn’t change and after the three years the contract as written is over.

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