31–40 of 299 posts
We've seen this time and again where walled gardens provide a solid experience and end up winning consumer trust. How do the champions of FOSS battle this? I don't know, but I'm on board when someone figures it out.
That's not easy. The problem is infrastructure and that costs money. Apps[0] that use distributed architectures, with rare exceptions, still just aren't non-nerd friendly.
[0] In general, not podcast specific.
I guess I don't know the right podcasts, but in my opinion, most of them are lazy marketing efforts by large corporations. I don't want to listen to native ads. And this is basically everything Spotify seems to suggest to me in the podcast section. I fled Soundcloud because they couldn't get their shit together, it seems Spotify won't be competing forever as well. Their app has random stutters on modern hardware, and…
Same. I don't know why that is though. Perhaps because he sold out open podcasting? Especially as he has had Adam Curry on a couple of times. But then I defy anyone to turn down such a payday (I wouldn't).
Perhaps it's the abandoning of a very large community (YT comments). That doesn't affect me personally but I know it affects others.
A subconscious sour taste somewhat?
Seriously, I think that there are a number of reasons why this won't pan out as predicted:
- There aren't really any tent-pole, must listen podcasts. They thought Joe Rogan was one but I'm hearing a lot of people have stopped listening to him on Spotify (I have).
- Spotify (and others) don't have the money to buy out the whole podcast ecosystem and many podcast makers I think would resist going Spotify exclusive.
- I like my podcast player a lot and there is no way I'm giving it up for the inferior Spotify experience.
I see podcasting as being more like YouTubing - sure there are outfits generating substantial revenue from advertising but many have more diverse revenue streams and reaching the largest audience is more important that an uplift in advertising revenue. Plus not everyone on YouTube is there for the $$$
Personally when ever I hear about an interesting podcast, and it's followed by "available on Spotify/Podimo, whatever", my reaction is always: Okay, never mind then.
There are so many great podcasts on the open web. Those available on platforms like Spotify always seems to be people with existing celebrity status trying to "cash in". Those shows are rarely that interesting, and even if they are there are so many competitors.
Assuming you have an existing successful podcast, I don't get why you'd move to something like Spotify. Are you really going to make that much more money? Your share of $10 per month cannot be high. Of cause it Spotify throws a large sum at you, to effectively buy your listeners, then I see the profit motive.
This post is essentially a funding pitch for Spotify. I talks a lot about they are going to try and kill the open podcast ecosystem but no evidence that they are making any progress. The podcast ecosystem is very different from other media markets-- it started open, it grew up open, and people are actually willing to directly pay content producers either for bonus content, to avoid ad reads, or just to keep the train…
>to avoid ad reads Even without paying for podcasts, ad reads in podcasts are pretty much the most consumer-friendly form of advertising on the internet. There's no privacy invasion. The ads are pretty well targeted because podcast producers generally know and try to respect their audiences. And they can even be pretty funny and entertaining when hosts can stray a bit off-script.
Slight but worrying privacy invasion. Podcasts are increasingly inserting targeted ads based on download analytics. Just the other day, I was listening to a British podcast that advertised for a local company in Seattle, where my IP address tells them I'm from.
The extent to which a podcast can target users has been somewhat limited until now. But if you use Spotify, they know what content you're listening to, and your exact listening behavior, as well as who you are. There's no doubt in my mind that they pay attention to that data internally, and very little doubt that they'll move to expose more and more of it to advertisers.
As an aside, I've also found Spotify's presentation of podcasts to be very jarring and confrontational. For example, the Spotify home screen features grouped podcast episodes under progressive banners like "Learn about voter suppression". The podcast episodes it features are, as you might expect, all from one side of the political spectrum. I am not a fan of these companies trying to program the public based on the politics of their executives and employees. It's insulting, and just completely not in the spirit of the open podcast world.
This post is essentially a funding pitch for Spotify. I talks a lot about they are going to try and kill the open podcast ecosystem but no evidence that they are making any progress. The podcast ecosystem is very different from other media markets-- it started open, it grew up open, and people are actually willing to directly pay content producers either for bonus content, to avoid ad reads, or just to keep the train…
What Spotify is trying to do is called a roll-up. This is a well tread business tactic favored by aspiring monopolists and the strategy is simple: acquire most of the distribution in the space, then jack up the price. (In the podcast world, "distribution" equates to "listeners" and price equates to "Spotify's subscription and ad revenue.") The harm caused to both consumers and producers by a roll-up is well-documente…
Agree that they should be stopped though, if it looks like they are succeeding.
I don't really consider these things "podcasts" anymore. There are a couple (imo, "real") podcasts I subscribe to and pay for, but I pay the creators directly and they generally self-host the files. Any other business model is just a network-exclusive TV or radio show, not a podcast.
I agree; they shouldn't be called podcasts if they don't conform to RSS and don't work in standard podcast apps. They're time-shifted audio shows sure, but not podcasts.
Or maybe podcasts have just evolved again, and now it's reincarnation is into streaming platforms and clubhouse rooms.
[1] This is where the word was invented, according to the Wikipedia: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/feb/12/broadcasting.d...