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It didn’t take long for Bloomberg’s Apple Podcast story to ricochet around the industry, Tuesday. We wanted to know what podcasters, who’ve been around with Apple since the medium launched, thought of the news. Here’s what they had to say…
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Daniel J. Lewis[/caption]
Audacity to Podcast host Daniel J. Lewis tells The Podcast Business Journal there are several directions he believes Apple could take this, and they really depend on the nature of Apple’s agreements. “While Apple’s other digital stores support paid subscriptions, Apple Podcasts currently doesn’t. I’ve long speculated that Apple may someday allow podcasters to charge subscription fees for exclusive content (entire shows or bonus content within a show) with Apple taking its usual 15–30% commission. If Apple brings that kind of feature to these funded podcasts, I think we could see similar options trickle down to the other 99.99% of podcasts. If Apple is in talks to make existing shows exclusive to Apple Podcasts, I think such siloing would hurt those existing audiences and undermine the open nature that has made podcasts so successful for 15 years in a land of selfish Netflix-wannabes. But even if this results in siloing (whether for new or existing shows), there are still some potential benefits. Apple TV+ will soon be available on non-Apple hardware, so Apple’s sponsored-podcasts interest may lead to making a feature-rich, platform-agnostic Apple Podcasts. This could fit with Apple’s recent paths into premium services that run on competing hardware. So while I oppose the idea of trying to cram a mature industry into a Netflix-like model, there are potential positives that could even benefit the independent podcasters. But I also think it’s really too early to know how Apple’s decisions will affect podcasters and their audiences.”
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Rob Walch[/caption]
Libsyn’s Vice President of Podcaster Relations Rob Walch tells PBJ right now this is all speculation. “What I could see Apple doing is getting some complementary/supporting podcasts created that are there to support their new original content for Apple TV+. Think of Ronald Moores original podcast he did for BattleStar Glactica. That would make more sense than Apple throwing money at existing content or even creating brand new content like some true-crime content. If Apple is getting into having exclusive content, it is going to be there to support or complement their original content for Apple TV+ but not where Apple is creating a paid-for, locked-down Apple Podcasts+. Again, all speculation at this point and all because of one story that at best seems questionable.”
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Evo Terra[/caption]
Consultant Evo Terra, host of Podcast Pontifications, says even though it’s still too soon to know what Apple really has planned, he’s not surprised by the move. “There’s a clear movement to funding quality original content, and it makes sense for the market leader to get a spot at the table, especially since they *are* the table for many listeners. I’m interested to see how they handle the “exclusive” angle. Will they take the Stitcher Premium/Luminary model that requires a for-fee subscription? Will they bundle it with other offerings where they already charge? Or will it be a non-RSS based option only available inside of Apple Podcasts. That last one is tricky, since that’s a huge departure from how podcasting works today. So they have to put in some kind of authentication scheme to keep people from reverse engineering and finding a way to get it on their player of choice. Then again, maybe they really don’t care about that end-around, especially if they aren’t charging for content.”
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Dave Jackson[/caption]
Hall of Famer and host of The School of Podcasting Dave Jackson says he’s glad to see Apple investing more into podcasting. “Apple has always been about being creative and being different and I will be very interested in seeing how creative they get, or if they just throw money at celebrities.”
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Rob Greenlee[/caption]
Rob Greenlee, VP, Content and Partnerships at Libsyn: “I think it is great news that Apple is interested in supporting the creation of new podcast content while still highlighting and featuring outstanding independently created podcasts too. The key questions are whether they distribute these new podcasts externally to other listening platforms, as most of the podcast series in their catalog are today, or keep these new shows exclusive to Apple Podcasts platform listening only.”
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Todd Cochrane[/caption]
Blubrry CEO Todd Cochrane says this is an interesting development and also wonders if it’s tied to the Apple TV initiative. “With Apple’s cash reserves they can afford to take a lot of the Top 200 and make them exclusive to Apple Podcasts, which would rob Spotify and other players from being able to distribute that content. If true this is an interesting move. My ongoing concern, though, is that the podcasting space was built on an open distribution model with no gatekeepers. For those podcasters in talks, though, it could be a cash windfall and I am sure a lot of shows are hoping for the call.”