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Spotify is killing the open podcast ecosystem (2020)

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

#141

Post by cgriswald »

Lendal wrote: post #76
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 provid…

They could lose them in the other direction as well. Unlike you, I don't mind podcasts being thrown at me. However, having come to enjoy a couple of the podcasts on offer, I'm not offered a way to subscribe to the pay versions of those podcasts, so I end up subscribing directly. Unfortunately, the Spotify app doesn't provide me a way to add my private RSS feeds from those subscriptions, so I spend much less time on Spotify and question whether I need the service at all.

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

#142

Post by will4274 »

TameAntelope wrote: post #114
redisman wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rogan is fine (if dumb) light entertainment to have in the background. I haven’t listened to a single episode since the move now that it’s not on YouTube anymore. Spotify is also totally awful for podcasts as the UX is for a music player. Besides Lex now fills that hole with a lot more intelligence

Eh, Rogan normalizes hate speech in ways that if you or I were to try to do would get us fired/unfriended. I don't think that's "fine", but it's also not really topical to the submission so I'll leave it at that. Edit: if folks want to start a discussion about this with me, let's create an email thread about it. My email is in my profile, I'll wait until three folks mention their interest before getting started, if t…

Can you give me an example of something Joe Rogan has said that you think a tech employer would fire an employee for? (Seriously asking, I don't listen to Rogan.)

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

#143

Post by Mountain_Skies »

function_seven wrote: post #108
pixxel wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I liked JRE, but even as a Spotify user, I don't listen to him anymore. 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 subcon…

Couple reasons for me: Mainly, when I'm looking for something to listen to, I go to my podcast app. There's a list of latest episodes. I browse and pick one. JRE never appears on that list, so out of sight, out of mind. But also, his show has taken a nosedive in quality in the last 6 months. Feels like discussions are always (a) COVID mask rules are dumb (or maybe they're not?, depends on the guest), (b) The Comedy C…

Wonder if the pandemic, combined with moving to another state, has impacted his ability to find new guests or guests with new stories to tell. IIRC, he has lots of hunters on his show, right? But if the world is more or less locked down, those hunters aren't going off to interesting places and coming back with stories to tell. Same for any other activity that requires travel. The fallback are the types of shows you mentioned. And being in a new state means creating a new network of contacts, which will take time and is slowed by the pandemic regardless of how loose Texas might be in their restrictions.

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

#144

Post by TameAntelope »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #129
TameAntelope wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, Rogan normalizes hate speech in ways that if you or I were to try to do would get us fired/unfriended. I don't think that's "fine", but it's also not really topical to the submission so I'll leave it at that. Edit: if folks want to start a discussion about this with me, let's create an email thread about it. My email is in my profile, I'll wait until three folks mention their interest before getting started, if t…

Sounds more like you want to raise the subject but don't want anyone to challenge you on it so you'll "leave it at that."

I'm sorry, hit me up on my email in my profile if you want to discuss more! A "Is Joe Rogan a racist?" conversation is not interesting, and this place is about hosting interesting discussions.

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

#145

Post by dont__panic »

kbenson wrote: post #118
dont__panic wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to support Pocket Casts, but I don't want to pay another subscription (Pocket Casts plus appears to be $1/mo). Do you know if there's any way to just pay $12 for Plus forever or something like that? Or another podcast app that has that kind of one-time purchase?

Is there a feature you want out of the paid subscription, or do you just want to support them? The subscription goes towards enabling features which have an ongoing cost (sync of files and listening state across devices so you can listen on desktop where you left off on mobile). I don't think they want to offer a one time fee for what is an indefinite period of cost. AFAIK most features other than that are still full…

Yeah, I mostly just wanted to toss them a few bucks since they've created an app that I really love. That's a good point, though -- I've recommended Pocket Casts to a lot of folks at this point, and pushed several off of listening to podcasts on Spotify so I'm doing my part to contribute in small ways.

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

#146

Post by amatecha »

Lendal wrote: post #76
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 provid…

Yup, I've been noticing that. Indeed, I've been preparing to cancel my subscription (backing up my "library"/playlists externally etc.), and their push into podcasts (and pushing them on me) is one of the reasons.

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

#147

Post by Covzire »

blfr wrote: post #119
Covzire wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strangest thing about Spotify for me is that I pay for Premium as well but that doesn't save me from Joe Rogan's own commercials he inserts into his spotify podcasts. They're skippable by simply moving the seek bar to the end but why if I'm paying for Premium are they even there? They're not baked into the podcast itself but rather the player pauses the playback of the podcast and cues up multiple 120(!) second a…

I have Spotify Premium and hear no ads on JRE.

Well that's odd, I get hit by multiple (3-4) 60-120 second ads about 2-3 times per podcast.

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

#148

Post by Spinnaker_ »

pixxel wrote: post #41
LatteLazy wrote: post #37

Aside from Joe Rogan (who's gone a bit barmy) I have no problem getting rss feeds for everything I want...

Barmy? I've not listened since his move to Spotify. What's happened?

People have been saying this every year for half a decade now. But it's the same podcast as it ever was.

Eric Weinstein was fantastic, Freddie Gibbs and Brian Moses were hilarious, Tim Dillion was the exact amount of ridiculous you'd expect. Then there's the episodes with professors like Brian Greene and Avi Loeb, and then fighters like GSP and Dan Gable. Nothing has changed except the platform.

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

#149

Post by rchaud »

pixxel wrote: post #32
dna_polymerase wrote: post #12

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…

>I liked JRE, but even as a Spotify user, I don't listen to him anymore. 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 subcon…

How about montonony and repetition?

There are > 1000 episodes of JRE, each 1-3 hours long. An enormous amount of repetition results from this. I have watched less than 50 episodes and I know I have to FFWD when Rogan starts talking about divorce laws in California, using the same example of one unnamed friend who lost everything to his ex-wife.

Podcasts with other comedians are unlistenable due to the constant navel-gazing about The Comedy Store and cancel culture.

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

#150

Post by pixxel »

function_seven wrote: post #108
pixxel wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I liked JRE, but even as a Spotify user, I don't listen to him anymore. 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 subcon…

Couple reasons for me: Mainly, when I'm looking for something to listen to, I go to my podcast app. There's a list of latest episodes. I browse and pick one. JRE never appears on that list, so out of sight, out of mind. But also, his show has taken a nosedive in quality in the last 6 months. Feels like discussions are always (a) COVID mask rules are dumb (or maybe they're not?, depends on the guest), (b) The Comedy C…

> There's a list of latest episodes. I browse and pick one. JRE never appears on that list, so out of sight, out of mind.

That’s a good point.

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