Spotify launches podcast to challenge Apple

Spotify launched a paid subscription platform for podcast, immediately after Apple’s launch. This is now launched only in United States and has planned to extend in other regions in the upcoming months. The company stated that A podcaster could mark episodes as subscriber-only and publish them on Spotify and other podcast listening platforms.

Spotify is one of the world’s most popular paid music streaming service. The company said that they won’t take a commission from podcast creators’ subscriber revenue for the next two years. There is also a planning to charge a 5% fee starting in 2023. Other online stores such as Apple usually charge developers a fee for purchases made on their platforms.

With European Union regulators, Spotify has filed a complaint two years ago. It states that the fees Apple charges for taking payments through the store had made it unfairly difficult for rivals to compete for music subscribers. Earlier this month a subscription platform cost $19.99 per month, has been unveiled by Apple. This is to compete with Spotify for music streaming. The tools the creators need to offer podcast subscriptions are also will be provided by Apple.

12 independent podcasters have been selected by Spotify. This is to publish subscriber-only bonus content in their existing podcast feeds. The company will also expand the program to more creators over the coming months. From May 4, National Public Radio (NPR) will publish five ad-free shows for paid subscribers, including “How I Built This with Guy Raz” and “Planet Money”.

More than half a billion dollars has been spent by Spotify, to boost its podcast muscle. It brought many podcast networks Gimlet and Anchor, and podcast ad company Megaphone. The new subscription tool is built using Anchor’s platform. The Swedish company is also testing a system where content publishers on other platforms with existing subscriber bases can deliver paid content using Spotify.