Spotify Competes With Apple by Expanding Podcast Subscriptions Program

In late April, Spotify began testing a Podcast Subscriptions program as a way for creators to offer paid subscriber-only content to listeners, and today the streaming music service announced this monetization option is now available to all U.S. creators. Spotify said creators can mark episodes as subscriber-only and publish them to Spotify and other platforms through its podcast creation platform Anchor.

Spotify also announced that it plans to expand the Podcast Subscriptions program internationally starting September 15 of this year.

Spotify said its model is built to maximize revenue for creators, who will receive 100% of subscription revenue minus payment processing fees until 2023, when the company plans to implement a 5% fee on subscription revenue.

Two changes are being made to the program to benefit creators: additional pricing tiers for subscription fees and the option to download a list of email addresses for subscribers so creators can further engage with their audiences.

Apple rolled out its own Podcasts Subscriptions feature worldwide in June, with the company receiving 30% of a subscriber's revenue in the first year and 15% if they remain subscribed for longer than one year. Creators are also required to enroll in the Apple Podcasters Program for $19.99 per year in order to offer subscriptions.

Benefits of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions for creators include the ability to offer subscriptions for individual shows or for groups of shows through a "channels" feature, the choice to offer fully paid subscriptions or freemium subscriptions with a mix of free and paid episodes, and availability in over 170 countries and regions today. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions also has options for soliciting subscriber email addresses.