Apple may fund original podcasts exclusive to its own services

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited July 2019
Apple may be expanding its original content efforts into podcasts, with a report claiming the iPhone maker will be funding productions of audio-based shows that it will offer its customers exclusively via the Podcasts app, taking a similar strategy to Spotify.

Apple Podcasts app


Apple's devices have offered the ability to listen to podcasts for quite some time, ranging from specialist content from publications like AppleInsider to major outlets and hobbyist shows, with all currently offered by the Podcasts app preinstalled in iOS devices and iTunes on desktops.

While currently the shows on offer are produced by third-party companies, with only items like event recordings being made by Apple itself, Bloomberg reports Apple will start funding original content that will be exclusive to Apple's services.

Unidentified sources claim executives at Apple have reached out to media companies over the possibility of securing exclusive rights to host specific podcasts. Though preliminary, Apple has yet to offer details of its strategy, but sources say the company plans to make deals it hasn't previously considered pursuing.

Apple would not be alone in attempting to make exclusive content for its own devices at the expense of other podcasting services. In February, it was revealed Spotify acquired major podcast creator Gimlet and podcast creation and distribution producer Anchor, in order to chip away at Apple Podcasts' market share.

It is speculated that the Apple Podcasts app is used for between 50% and 70% of listening for most podcasts, industry executives claim, with monthly podcast listenership more than doubling in the United States since 2014.

The immediate response to the news saw Spotify's shares drop by 2.7% on Tuesday, the biggest intraday decline for the streaming service's stock in the last three weeks.

A shift into original programming for the Podcasts app would be an extension of the company's existing strategy of improving its services with subscription-based offerings. Having already launched Apple News+ and with the video-based Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade on the way, funding podcasts seems like a logical fit alongside the others.

While it may not end up being content offered under a subscription, Apple's funded podcasts could help provide advertising revenue. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, podcasts generated $479 million in advertising revenue in the United States in the last year, with sales growing 65% on average per year for the last three years.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.

    Now if they can change the apps name to simply "Podcasts", they don't need "Apple" in front of them since they damn own Podcasting.
  • Reply 2 of 20
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Apple invented the Podcast 
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    AppleExposedchasm
  • Reply 3 of 20
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    crowley said:
    Apple invented the Podcast 
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    What the hell??.....
  • Reply 4 of 20
    heli0sheli0s Posts: 65member
    Exclusives are terrible for consumers as well as indie developers. I’ll wait to see the details but I sure hope whatever these shows end up being are also available through 3rd party apps like Overcast and Castro. 
    1STnTENDERBITSrogifan_newcgWerks
  • Reply 5 of 20
    FolioFolio Posts: 698member
    Apple might look to book fairs and local writers, directors, musicians. Cspan Book TV, while still good, after cutting hours, etc seems to be waning, perhaps due to cordcutters. (Just listened to DTV Now recording of ex Secretary of Defense Ash Carter promoting his new book on Pentagon, and at around 29.00 minutes warn against China's Huawei in 5G. So Obama SecDef also against them deploying networks in US and among its allies.)
  • Reply 6 of 20
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,731member
    Could the podcats be provided as part of the $9/month Apple TV service?

    And could Apple potentially provide those podcasts to other services who agree to the monthly fee, even for a discount?

    n2itivguy
  • Reply 7 of 20
    mobirdmobird Posts: 759member
    crowley said:
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    Yeah, you might want to check Wikipedia regarding that theory, far from it. Apple did sling a bunch of Cease and Desist orders around based on their entitlement from having a product with the letters "POD" in it...
    edited July 2019 n2itivguyspace2001
  • Reply 8 of 20
    mobirdmobird Posts: 759member
    Mutiny of the fingers.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    meh... 

    can't wait for that amazing Oprah's Book Club 'PODCAST'

    🤮
  • Reply 10 of 20
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    mobird said:
    crowley said:
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    Yeah, you might want to check Wikipedia regarding that theory, far from it. Apple did sling a bunch of Cease and Desist orders around based on their entitlement from having a product with the letters "POD" in it...

    Podcast = iPod Broadcast

    It blows my mind he thinks Apple inventions can't be stolen. APPLE, a company with the worst track record of being stolen from.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,610member
    I would think Apple sponsorship would mean something more like FIRST on Apple Podcasts rather than ONLY. Apple is well aware that the entire platform of podcasts is (with very minor exceptions) based on equal, free, and fair.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    mobird said:
    crowley said:
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    Yeah, you might want to check Wikipedia regarding that theory, far from it. Apple did sling a bunch of Cease and Desist orders around based on their entitlement from having a product with the letters "POD" in it...

    Podcast = iPod Broadcast

    It blows my mind he thinks Apple inventions can't be stolen. APPLE, a company with the worst track record of being stolen from.

    He's just here to shit on Apple and it users. He dresses it up like he's "participating".
  • Reply 13 of 20
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    mobird said:
    crowley said:
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.
    They certainly did not.  If they had it may well have been closed off to iPods only.
    Yeah, you might want to check Wikipedia regarding that theory, far from it. Apple did sling a bunch of Cease and Desist orders around based on their entitlement from having a product with the letters "POD" in it...

    Podcast = iPod Broadcast

    It blows my mind he thinks Apple inventions can't be stolen. APPLE, a company with the worst track record of being stolen from.
    Verbal association doesn't mean Apple invented it.  

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting

    The only early mentions of Apple are trademark disputes.  Apple did not invent mp3, did not invent RSS, did not invent putting them together to create an audio feed, and did not invent the name "podcast". 

    They helped popularise podcasts for sure, when they added podcasts to iTunes, but they didn't invent them.
    space2001cgWerks
  • Reply 14 of 20
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,046member
    Apple invented the Podcast so it's embarrassing to see them fall behind. I hope they give more attention to the platform as they deserve a monopoly on this.

    Now if they can change the apps name to simply "Podcasts", they don't need "Apple" in front of them since they damn own Podcasting.
    No, Apple did NOT invent podcasting or the podcast.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,046member
    Content should be platform agnostic.

    Apple’s trying to be all things to all people is going to land them squarely in the crosshairs of anti-trust and monopoly regulators.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    crowley said:
    Verbal association doesn't mean Apple invented it.  

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_podcasting

    The only early mentions of Apple are trademark disputes.  Apple did not invent mp3, did not invent RSS, did not invent putting them together to create an audio feed, and did not invent the name "podcast". 

    They helped popularise podcasts for sure, when they added podcasts to iTunes, but they didn't invent them.
    Here are a couple of Adam Curry's tellings of it:

    I really don't like the idea of exclusive content, and still referring to it as a podcast. While it might technically qualify, it goes against the whole nature of the medium.

    That said, this doesn't drive me quite as nuts as all the fuss over user-tracking and advertising (and other really asinine stuff) being strong-armed into the space by some big players who think they invented it (ahem... NPR?).
  • Reply 17 of 20
    AlanWynnAlanWynn Posts: 23member
    The greatest thing they could do in this space would be to fund some podcasts and license them to any platform that has no exclusive content (or at least cross licenses it to them). That would ensure people can listen to as many podcasts on the Apple Platform as possible.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    This is probably the best time in history to be someone who creates exciting original works in music, movies, books or even the relatively new medium of podcasts. 
  • Reply 19 of 20
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    AlanWynn said:
    The greatest thing they could do in this space would be to fund some podcasts and license them to any platform that has no exclusive content (or at least cross licenses it to them). That would ensure people can listen to as many podcasts on the Apple Platform as possible.
    In a way, they've already done that by just popularizing cataloging (and sort of distribution, though it's just a pointer) via their iTunes and now Podcasts directory. But, sure, just giving some funding to some podcasters to grow the space would be cool, too.

    Just FYI (as I find a lot of people don't know the mechanics of podcasting), 99.9%+ of podcasts aren't exclusive to any platform, nor do they even 'live' on any particular platform. All these 'platforms' are just players that read RSS feeds and then download the media file from wherever it is hosted, or are directories that list/search podcasts. Apple's 'directory' is by far the most popular, and the majority of other 'platforms' simply pull in the info from Apple to populate their listings.

    Google will probably become a big player, now that they are better indexing podcasts specifically, and showing a player in search results. But, for non-Apple to become big in terms of podcast listeners, someone like Google will have to make a native app that is included with Android. (Current iOS:Android ratio is around 4.3:1)
  • Reply 20 of 20
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    Did we get "Bloomberg'd" on this story?

    Anyway, thought I'd point out a resource for anyone interested in the thoughts of the industry's top podcast experts on the topic:
    https://podcastersroundtable.com/exclusive-podcasts-an-oxymoron/

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