The music streaming market leader Spotify has also introduced a subscription model for podcasts – a few days after Apple. But some things should be different, it said on Tuesday.
Stockholm – A few days after Apple, the music streaming market leader Spotify also presented a subscription model for podcasts. On Tuesday, Spotify announced more favorable terms for authors than the iPhone group. Spotify does not want to withhold any of the subscription income for the next two years and then set its share at five percent. At Apple, meanwhile, according to the plans announced last week, the usual conditions of initially 30 percent and then 15 percent if the subscription runs for more than a year apply.
Spotify is initially making the subscription function available in the USA and plans to expand it to more countries in the coming months. Apple launches in May in more than 170 countries.
At Spotify, authors must use the company’s Anchor podcaster platform to participate in the program. This can mean additional work if they have previously distributed their podcasts in other ways. Another difference is that the Spotify subscriptions cannot be concluded directly in the app, but instead you are redirected to a website. Spotify does not have to pay a fee to the app store operators Apple and Google.
Spotify has been investing in expanding its market share in podcasts for years, where Apple has traditionally played a large role. The Swedish company is also relying on its size with 345 million users of the music streaming service. 155 million of these were paying subscription customers. Apple Music had 60 million subscription customers by summer 2019 without a free version and has not presented any new figures since then.
