Meanwhile I guess apple stopped accepting new podcasts into their database and people are spreading rumors of a new paid podcasts+ subscription model launching today. Which I hope falls flat. Podcasts should be free and accessible to anyone.
Press Release: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apple-leads-the-next-...
Quote:
>Starting in May, listeners in more than 170 countries and regions can sign up for premium subscriptions that include a variety of benefits curated by creators, such as ad-free listening, access to additional content, and early or exclusive access to new series.
>Fifteen years ago, Apple took podcasts mainstream, offering creators a premier, _open platform_ to inform, entertain, and inspire hundreds of millions of listeners around the world,” said Eddy Cue
Interesting that the "open platform" part is no longer needed.
Of course, if its an apple product, in a sense you are tied in to their system, but if it's successful, other paid for podcast variants could appear and then Joe Rogan can syndicate it to numerous vendors which have a pay-wall.
I listen to a lot of podcasts, and there are some premium ones where you pay to get access, but once you pay, the way you access them is basically the same as all other podcasts. Hiding the actual podcast behind a certain protocol is what I raise an eyebrow to.
Also, this is my opinion only, spotify is terrible at podcasts from a usability standpoint.
Yes, because podcasts were previously open on numerous fronts. Any person can create a podcast that can be listened to be any person on any device. That is three points of openness. Adding a price on only restrict one of those points, the "listened to by any person". It still wouldn't stop any person's ability to create them or any device's ability to play them. Spotify (and presumably Apple) restricts both those points of openness too.