https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/06/apple-podcasts-subscr...
Except that it didn't.
Before Spotify, "podcasting" meant "open medium based on web standards". Spotify embraced/extended/extinguished it to the point that even technical people happily call shows distributed on closed platforms like Spotify and YouTube "podcasts".
Since freeing the word "podcasting" from its open, standards-based chains, Spotify now claims to be the largest podcast listening platform with 25% of U.S. listeners. As a closed platform, there's no way to independently verify whether Spotify is cooking their metrics books.
Yes, this is Spotify's argument to anyone who says it's bad that they liberated "podcasting" from web standards.
> The fact is that Apple checkmated them by allowing monetization of podcasts directly.
That's not how it works — as with Spotify, listeners pay Apple, and then Apple gives podcasters a percentage of the proceeds. https://podcasters.apple.com/support/892-apple-podcasters-pr...
Eh, as someone who never listened to the big guys or use Apple's podcasts, I'd hardly give Apple credit. It was just impossible to put podcasts behind a paywall after they were free for a decade.
It truly seems like a stupid thing. Reminds me of how one of the satellite radio companies would buy a popular radio host, and that popular radio host would lose their popularity in exchange for millions.