Following up on a January report from The Information that Apple was prepping the launch of a new subscription-based podcast service, Vox Media’s Peter Kafka on Sunday tweeted that he believes Apple will announce a new Podcasts subscription service on Tuesday, at Apple’s “Spring Loaded” special event.
While we are here: Pretty sure Apple is prepping its own podcast plan – a paid subscription service – on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/w12tWqg0yo
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) April 18, 2021
To date, all of Apple’s original podcasts are offered for free and can be listened to in any podcast app. A premium paywalled service, perhaps called Podcasts+, would see a catalog of Apple-exclusive shows debut inside the Apple Podcasts app, similar to how Apple TV+ TV shows and movies can only be found inside the Apple TV app.
MacDailyNews Take: A Podcasts subscription service is a logical move on the podcasting front for Apple. Late last year, the company hired Emily Ochsenschlager, who previously served National Geographic’s director of podcasts, as the company started funding Apple Original podcasts. We’d imagine that Apple Podcasts+ would be commercial-free and also available via at least one of the Apple One bundles.
If you aren’t paying for a product, you ARE the product. That applies to all commercial media – including cable TV and talk radio. Ironic that a big company like Apple has the potential to free us from that.
The potential.
Tau Myx, well said…
This is actually an Apple service, I would gladly pay for.
I am waiting for “Sign in with Apple” so that my family can replace the ubiquitous “Sign in with FB” tracking app.
No thanks. It will politically aligned and pandering to the woke left. if the podcasts are like their TV offerings they will also be sanctimonious, message laden, boring and not worth the effort.
Well said