Bulletins

Spotify is launching paid podcasts

Spotify

Best of luck to Patreon.

Image: Spotify

Podcasters in the U.S. can now publish subscriber-only content via Spotify, with the company taking no revenue cut for the first two years. Starting in 2023, Spotify said it plans to charge 5% — significantly less than Apple's 30% cut on its new podcast tool.

Paid podcasts seemingly won't be bundled with existing Spotify Premium memberships, instead requiring users to sign up for podcasts individually. Pricing is $2.99, $4.99 or $7.99 a month, set by the creator.

Spotify also said it would let creators who have paid subscribers on other platforms — such as Patreon — give those subscribers access to premium podcasts through the Spotify app, with Spotify reposting the content. That's a clear sign that Spotify wants to be the home for all podcasts, no matter where the billing is actually done.

Shakeel Hashim

Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a former growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.

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