Spotify rolls out paid subscriptions for podcasts

Spotify has launched a new paid subscription platform for podcasts, adding an extra avenue of revenue for creators.

The company announced the new platform on 27 April.

Paid subscriptions for podcasts are only available in the US for now. However, Spotify said it will roll out the feature to other countries in the coming months.

Paid subscriptions for Spotify podcasts

The platform will work using Anchor, where creators will upload their podcasts. Creators can set their podcasts as subscriber-only and from there can publish them on Spotify and other streaming services.

Podcasts on the Spotify app that need a paid subscription will have a bright green lock icon on their page. Clicking on the icon will take users to a page prompting them to sign up for a paid subscription.

Once you have subscribed, Spotify will unlock the podcast and you can listen to it on the app.

The subscriptions will provide extra revenue for creators and increase their reach with audiences.

For the next two years, the paid subscription feature will be available to creators at no cost. Spotify will only take a 5% fee from creators’ revenue starting in 2023.

At launch, Spotify will feature 12 podcast creators who offer subscriber-only content. The company will then immediately start accepting submissions from other creators for the platform.

There is no difference between searching for subscriber-only and free-to-listen podcasts on Spotify. All will continue to show up in general searches.

At the same time, Spotify said it was working on a system that allows people to listen to podcasts that aren’t hosted on the platform. The feature will let creators bring their paid content to Spotify while not abandoning their original host website and subscribers.

Spotify added it will share more details on the feature soon.

Feature image: cottonbro/Pexels

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