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.