Spotify and podcast exclusivity

JoshTheBlack

One of the non BM podcast networks I listen to and enjoy (Last Podcast on the Left) recently announced they are moving to Spotify starting January 2020.  Along with this, the free versions of their podcasts will ONLY be available via the Spotify app.  They also have ad-free rss feeds available on their Patreon at $10/month or higher. 

Now this move presumably came with financial support so they can continue to make their podcasts and support their families.  

While I enjoy LPOTL, I don't enjoy it enough to splinter my podcast apps, or switch to Spotify. I might enjoy it enough to consider paying for a premium feed, but $10/month is not a price that would suit me. Furthermore, if more and more of the podcasts I enjoy were to go this route, paying for premium feeds on all of them would quickly become untenable. 

Now, I'm a BM club member.  I love BM and feel that the amount they charge for the amount of content they produce that is relevant to me is an excellent value.  

This question is for non-club members. If BM were to be partnered with say Stitcher, and the free versions of their content was only available in the Stitcher app, would you still listen?

This question is for club-members. How much would you be willing to pay monthly for JUST one feed from BM.

Everyone, what do you think about this exclusivity in general?  Is this good for creators?  Bad for podcasts in general?  Does it make it harder for new podcasters to gain a foothold in the market?

Dee

As a member, BM is the ONLY podcast I would consider following (and paying for) elsewhere. As for how much, I don’t know - maybe $10 USD a month? 

As for your question about exclusivity in general, I’m against it. People should be able to listen on the app of their choice - make it premium if you want to charge people to listen (and take the risk that they won’t). It’s not so much the cost for me as much as I don’t want to have to have multiple apps all with different podcasts on them - I hate clutter and I like everything in one place. 

fidoz

I'm a member but I wouldn't follow them to a new service. I listen to a bunch of Ringer pods but haven't listened to any of the ones exclusively on luminary or spotify. 

cdrive

So this is what Ben was talking about on Twitter. I dunno man I’m already a Spotify member but it is kinda annoying since I like all my podcasts in my apple podcast app.  Not even sure how podcasts work in Spotify. You follow it instead of subscribe and then I would guess new episodes show up on the home screen? 

cdrive

Haha look at y’all LPOTL weird fucks in Bald Move. Actually a Brazilian Bald Move member here put me on those guys. 

JaimieT

cdrive said:

Haha look at y’all LPOTL weird fucks in Bald Move. Actually a Brazilian Bald Move member here put me on those guys. 

I'm still onto you being taken over by a spam bot 

cdrive

JaimieT said:

cdrive said:

Haha look at y’all LPOTL weird fucks in Bald Move. Actually a Brazilian Bald Move member here put me on those guys. 

I'm still onto you being taken over by a spam bot 

Hey I’m just trying to get my post count up! 

cdrive

Like why post 1 post when you can post 2 posts?! 

Flukes

Gimlet did an interesting version of this for a podcast series I just listened to on the weekend.

It's called motherhacker and they're releasing episodes daily via RSS feed. The episodes are short, usually 10 minutes or less.

Each episode ends with an ad for the series on Spotify. On Spotify you can listen to all nine episodes immediately without waiting for the daily release. I'm willing to bet they have a pretty high conversion rate - especially for listeners that already use Spotify.

I'll probably add a post to one of the podcast recommendation threads about this one, but as a teaser - it stars none other than Baldie recipient Carrie Coon.

JoshTheBlack

Spotify gobbles up another one.  The Joe Rogan Experience will move to Spotify in September, and become exclusively available on Spotify at the end of the year.

I'm a seldom listener to JRE, but this really sucks for podcasting in general.  

Jim

I expect Spotify will capture most of the podcasting audience over the next 5 years. It'll be YouTube for podcasting and everyone will be worse off for it, except for Spotify, of course.

Freddy

Catch them and then put up a pay wall. Or so many ads that there is no way to enjoy listening without premium.

MrX

Crooked Media is even getting in on the Spotify action, they're co-producing a podcast "Wind of Change" (which seems pretty compelling, I listened to the first episode) that is released weekly via normal feeds, but you can listen all at once on Spotify.

MichaelG

I have Spotify so it doesn’t effect me a ton, but I do think it’s a step back for podcast fans. Not to mention the Spotify podcast audio player quality kinda sucks last time I tried it. 

MrX

MichaelG said:

I have Spotify so it doesn’t effect me a ton, but I do think it’s a step back for podcast fans. Not to mention the Spotify podcast audio player quality kinda sucks last time I tried it. 

I have Spotify too, but just a single account that I share with my wife, do haven't really felt inclined to mix podcasts into my library. Plus last time I tried I still preferred my dedicated podcast app for the interface.

Garthgou81

MichaelG said:

I have Spotify so it doesn’t effect me a ton, but I do think it’s a step back for podcast fans. Not to mention the Spotify podcast audio player quality kinda sucks last time I tried it. 

I absolutely hate their interface. It takes ages to navigate. But I might just be a dummy and don't find it intuitive at all. 

fidoz

Garthgou81 said:

MichaelG said:

I have Spotify so it doesn’t effect me a ton, but I do think it’s a step back for podcast fans. Not to mention the Spotify podcast audio player quality kinda sucks last time I tried it. 

I absolutely hate their interface. It takes ages to navigate. But I might just be a dummy and don't find it intuitive at all. 

Their interface is the worst.

Doctor_Nick

Yeah, Pockecasts is so much better than Spotify for podcasts.

Teresa from Concord

@Garthgou81 it’s not you. The interface sucks. I won’t podcast on Spotify. 

joepinetree

The entire business model of silicon valley is spend a lot of money and lose a lot of money with the goal of one day becoming a monopoly.

Doctor_Nick

Spotify is the big underdog in this fight. They’re desperately looking for something to drive people to them. 

fidoz

This is why Daniel Ek is a billionaire and I am not. When Spotify started buying up podcast networks I thought "that's dumb. their interface sucks and apple is right there. i guess i'll just not listen to the stuff that goes over there." Then The Ringer released Music Exists on spotify exclusively. I'm a big Klosterman fan and had to use it to listen to that. While over there I decided to make a few playlists. Then checked out some of the algorithm created playlists for me. I liked them. Then I discovered the listen at 1.2x speed. I loved that. Then I found Wind of Change. Then I found Son of a Hitman and Dax Shepard's show. I guess this is just a long winded way of saying goodbye apple, I'm all in on spotify.