Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

singhkays.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 299 posts

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#71

Post by divslinger »

tmh88j wrote: post #48
StavrosK wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Pocket Casts. I just like it a lot, and I don't want to switch because it does everything I need. Spotify seems like it wouldn't be as configurable, but I haven't even felt the need to check. Plus, I don't like a monoculture.

>I just like it a lot, and I don't want to switch because it does everything I need. Spotify seems like it wouldn't be as configurable Maybe I'm missing out on part of the experience. What else is there to do with a podcast other than download/stream and listen? - Thanks for all the tips. I don't listen to a ton of podcasts but I'll give it a shot.

Other nice features I haven’t seen mentioned

- sort by most liked - save clips

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#72

Post by jackson1442 »

mvolfik wrote: post #54
mrweasel wrote: post #35

Do Spotify actually manage to sell any significant number of subscriptions due to podcasts? 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 "ca…

Beware though that "available on Spotify" (idk Podimo) doesn't necessarily mean that it's exclusive there. But it's very common around here and many people use it for convenience (and the podcasts can advertise it as "look we are in this fancy mainstream app", not weird (?) RSS, while they likely offer that too). I myself used Spotify for freely available podcasts too, only recently switched to Podcast Addict for ner…

I believe Spotify, unless they buy an exclusive or something, still consumes RSS feeds to make podcasts work, so most anything on Spotify is freely available.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#73

Post by cosmodisk »

mrweasel wrote: post #35

Do Spotify actually manage to sell any significant number of subscriptions due to podcasts? 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 "ca…

Don't underestimate it longer term. I rarely,if ever, listen to podcasts and I don't use Spotify, however Spotify is already a household brand. It's like Netflix: every time I speak to someone about a movie,or a series,the first question is whether it's on Netflix and if the answer is No,they often get disappointed.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#74

Post by ryanwhitney »

ThisIsTheWay wrote: post #42
klelatti wrote: post #33

Joe who? 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 exclu…

I'll admit I'm a podcast novice, but what player are you using and what does it offer beyond Spotify? I find, download, and play podcasts through Spotify without issues, and the few features I need (speed adjustment, offline access, and show notes/links) are all available on Spotify. If there is a better way to listen, I'd love to hear about it.

Overcast. It has a “smart speed” feature that cuts out breaks and pauses in a way that’s almost unnoticeable but will save/gain you hundreds of hours. And audio clip sharing and great leveling in addition to privacy features.

https://overcast.fm/

There’s numerous small developers out there putting in much more care than Spotify.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#75

Post by dont__panic »

hnburnsy wrote: post #63

JRE RSS for any podcast player... https://spotifeed.timdorr.com/4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk Many thanks to Tim Dorr for creating this, works for any Spotify podcast... https://spotifeed.timdorr.com/

While this is a really cool project, personally I think we should just let any Spotify-exclusive podcast die instead of feeding the beast. I absolutely hate that my Spotify Premium music subscription dollars are being funneled into exclusive podcasts and attempts to force podcasts down my throat via recommendations all over the app.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#76

Post by Lendal »

mrweasel wrote: post #35

Do Spotify actually manage to sell any significant number of subscriptions due to podcasts? 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 "ca…

No, but they could lose subscribers due to Podcasts.

See, I pay for Spotify because of their playlists. Playlists have nothing to do with podcasts. I listen to my podcasts using a different app. Yet Spotify keeps throwing its podcasts in my face. Spotify is not good at podcasts. That's why I use a different app for that. I'm getting tired of scrolling past all the podcast spam in my Spotify UI, and yet Spotify provides NO option in Settings to turn OFF their podcast advertisements/recommendations. That is annoying to me, a paying customer. So they're pushing this, and annoying me, at their own peril.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#77

Post by tootie »

mrweasel wrote: post #35

Do Spotify actually manage to sell any significant number of subscriptions due to podcasts? 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 "ca…

They don't really need to. In fact, some early industry rumors say that are not close to recouping costs. They're instead doing the classic SV play of selling customers a dollar for 50 cents until they are addicted and then pulling the rug. They want to cripple the open market by firehosing cash until everyone else gives up, then they can do what they want.

Apple and Google are playing this game too in their own ways. Google is going to try to make podcasting more like youtube in the next few years.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#78

Post by BostonEnginerd »

syshum wrote: post #22
intpx wrote: post #4

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…

I stopped listening to Rogan when he fell off my preferred PodCast app, and I am a Paying Spotify Premium user but I do not use Spotify for PodCasts because I like to keep my PodCasts and Music Separate

I also resent being tracked especially when I am a paying customer.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#79

Post by Hiopl »

tmh88j wrote: post #48
StavrosK wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Pocket Casts. I just like it a lot, and I don't want to switch because it does everything I need. Spotify seems like it wouldn't be as configurable, but I haven't even felt the need to check. Plus, I don't like a monoculture.

>I just like it a lot, and I don't want to switch because it does everything I need. Spotify seems like it wouldn't be as configurable Maybe I'm missing out on part of the experience. What else is there to do with a podcast other than download/stream and listen? - Thanks for all the tips. I don't listen to a ton of podcasts but I'll give it a shot.

Favoriting episodes, bookmarks, auto-queues, prioritizing podcasts, downloading episodes for archival purposes, playback history, list of all episodes in progress, stripping empty audio, crazy amount of configurability, and an interface that isn't terrible. I'm sure there are a bunch of other features I'm forgetting.

I've tried Spotify. It's not a podcast player. It's an audio player with none of the conveniences of a modern podcast player. If all you want to do is listen to podcasts, I'm sure it's fine, but it's not in any way sufficient for my needs. At this point, Podcast Addict is the only app out there that I can stand to use.

Re: Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

#80

Post by chrisco255 »

klelatti wrote: post #56
ThisIsTheWay wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll admit I'm a podcast novice, but what player are you using and what does it offer beyond Spotify? I find, download, and play podcasts through Spotify without issues, and the few features I need (speed adjustment, offline access, and show notes/links) are all available on Spotify. If there is a better way to listen, I'd love to hear about it.

I use PocketCasts (on iOS) and I'm happy enough to pay for a subscription (extra benefits are marginal though). It's less about features, I think, and more about the overall experience. It's probably quite personal too, but in no particular order: - Smoother and more responsive UI - Less cluttered and more dense UI eg visual overview of all my subscriptions - Silence trimming - Sharing from a given place in a podcast…

I use it on Android and also quite happy with it after years of use.
Post reply on HN