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Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

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Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#111

Post by hoschicz »

baddox wrote: post #74
anchpop wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then again Netflix makes Netflix originals, which are only available on Netflix, and I don't mind that There are arguments for why this could be a bad thing. Originals/exclusives have the effect of giving an "unfair" advantage to the company who makes them, because to watch them you need to subscribe to their service. This allows them to compete in avenues other than price and quality of service. This is a similar…

I mean, yeah, all else being equal, it would be better for consumers to have access to any content they want on any app or device. But it's a bit difficult to imagine how "making exclusives illegal" would work, exactly. Would content producers be required to sell their content to every distribution network for the same price, so that every streaming service could, if they wanted to, make a profit by effectively charg…

> Would content producers be required to sell their content to every distribution network for the same price, so that every streaming service could, if they wanted to, make a profit by effectively charging more for the content?

No. The platform (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) would have to have a different ownership structure than the content creator. This would allow the studios to sell their shows to whoever they want under whatever terms they want (presumably to the highest bidder). This should theoretically let the free market work effectively.

This (separation of platform from product on said platform) is the basis for many proposals for breaking up "big tech" and is IMO the way to go.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#112

Post by cco »

reaperducer wrote: post #89
marmada wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the difference between exclusive podcasts and making a website that only runs on Safari? In both scenarios it is a company giving their product an artificial advantage. There's no technical reason that a website should only run on one browser, it kind of feels the same way with podcasts. Then again Netflix makes Netflix originals, which are only available on Netflix, and I don't mind that, so I guess my viewp…

What is the difference between exclusive podcasts and making a website that only runs on Safari? Ask Google, which is actively encouraging people to write web sites that only work on Chrome. Sometimes it's OK, sometimes it's not. Netflix and Hulu and other streamers are allowed to make and distribute original content. Since 1987 in the United States, aside from news, TV networks aren't allowed to make and distribute…

> Ask Google, which is actively encouraging people to write web sites that only work on Chrome.

Why would I ask Google? We’re talking about Apple Podcasts.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#113

Post by bscphil »

ufo wrote: post #97
bscphil wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree - actually I've gotten into the habit of trying to track down the original RSS feed for each podcast I listen to. Often the link shared by the podcaster will be to rehosters like Google Play or iTunes, or lesser-known services, that have tracking and probably the ability to insert custom ads. The worst is when they make the elitist move of only linking iTunes, making their podcast unlistenable (on mobile at l…

Some soundcloud podcasts don't have,an RSS feed and,are only listenable withthe soundcloud app. These are the worst.

Do you have an example? I'd like to look into it.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#114

Post by charlesju »

Does anyone else think the Podcast app is unusable? This is what I'd do if I were Apple.

1. Fix your app for people that sub to more than 10 podcasts, I crash all the time and takes me maybe 5-10 minutes to load into the app. I had to switch to Spotify because I can't use Apple's version anymore.

2. Host podcasts for premium members. Run ads for them.

3. Create an Android and Windows app. Separate Mac app. Own this space.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#115

Post by bscphil »

filmgirlcw wrote: post #98
bscphil wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree - actually I've gotten into the habit of trying to track down the original RSS feed for each podcast I listen to. Often the link shared by the podcaster will be to rehosters like Google Play or iTunes, or lesser-known services, that have tracking and probably the ability to insert custom ads. The worst is when they make the elitist move of only linking iTunes, making their podcast unlistenable (on mobile at l…

There’s not a universal solution, in part because many times the dynamic ad-insertion is something the podcasters themselves want (or it’s one of the terms of using a certain podcast host). I have a podcast with a podcasting network that sells our ads for us. To my knowledge, they don’t do any dynamic ad insertions for older episodes (though if they did, I wouldn’t necessarily be upset, provided they were inserted th…

That's a fair point. Whatever service is originally hosting the content might well be doing the dynamic ad insertions too. My assumption is that in at least some cases while the ads are desired by the podcaster, they aren't inserted until a later stage by an aggregator. So there's some hope of getting at the original source.

At least, when I've been able to track down sources, they seem to be mostly hosted on generic CDNs, which gives me some hope that the same file is being served to all listeners.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#116

Post by wenbin »

I hope exclusive podcasts don't become a trend. Podcasts are very good media format for informal education / learning. Instead of spending 30 hours reading a book, you can just listen to conversion among smart people in 30 minutes in podcasts. If there are more and more exclusive & paid podcasts, it'll become harder for young people (or people from poor areas) to access to the content.

ps, I built Listen Notes ( https://www.listennotes.com/ ) to be an independent podcast directory that helps surface long tailed podcasts (public & distributed via rss). If you want to build a better podcast app, you can use Listen Notes API to jumpstart your project: https://www.listennotes.com/api/

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#117

Post by ufo »

bscphil wrote: post #113
ufo wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some soundcloud podcasts don't have,an RSS feed and,are only listenable withthe soundcloud app. These are the worst.

Do you have an example? I'd like to look into it.

Oops, I got the "S"s mixed up. The podcast that I couldn't find the RSS feed for was on Spotify, not Soundcound.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#118

Post by wenbin »

bscphil wrote: post #72
snailmailman wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish the later could be possible. I have no idea how podcast-ads work but lately i noticed some podcasts giving me seemingly location-dependent ads. (about something in a nearby major city) either everyone is getting advertisements for a very dallas targeted ad, or are the podcast companies making several versions of the podcast and serving different ones to different people? sounds like a lot of extra work to me,…

I agree - actually I've gotten into the habit of trying to track down the original RSS feed for each podcast I listen to. Often the link shared by the podcaster will be to rehosters like Google Play or iTunes, or lesser-known services, that have tracking and probably the ability to insert custom ads. The worst is when they make the elitist move of only linking iTunes, making their podcast unlistenable (on mobile at l…

You can come find RSS feed for most podcasts on my site https://www.listennotes.com/

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#119

Post by Swenrekcah »

chrisrhoden wrote: post #93
Swenrekcah wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree that if it’s not accessible on any app then it’s not a podcast. I also would pay for a podcast app that could guarantee that the audio file was the same for all listeners.

Real question - is it dynamic ads that bug you, or the implication that there is some personal tracking motivating the dynamic ads (rather than, say, calendar based ad buys or impression limits)?

Neither. It’s the implication that the show I’m listening to might be subtly varying their content based on whatever metric. Imagine the next cambridge analytica making a podcast app and doing their facebook shenanigans with the news show you trust.

I don’t care about the ads much but they’re impossible to distinguish from content, for those who would wish to do this.

Re: Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals

#120

Post by chrisrhoden »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #119
chrisrhoden wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Real question - is it dynamic ads that bug you, or the implication that there is some personal tracking motivating the dynamic ads (rather than, say, calendar based ad buys or impression limits)?

Neither. It’s the implication that the show I’m listening to might be subtly varying their content based on whatever metric. Imagine the next cambridge analytica making a podcast app and doing their facebook shenanigans with the news show you trust. I don’t care about the ads much but they’re impossible to distinguish from content, for those who would wish to do this.

That's a novel concern, at least to me - and it's not clear to me that we have seen any examples of _content modification_ based on psychographics. Curation and promotion based on targeting seems plenty pernicious at least at the moment.
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