(Reuters) -Apple Inc. is struggling to maintain control of the fast-growing podcast market that it popularized years ago but did not make revenue, analysts and industry experts told Reuters.
Nearly 16 years after Apple added the ability to find podcasts (a combination of “iPod” and “broadcast” coined by a Guardian journalist) to its iTunes software, the iPhone maker is now seeking to prosecute podcast creators with new subscription tools and creators. , and defend the competition from the streaming audio company Spotify.
Apple announced Tuesday that it will launch Apple Podcast subscriptions, which will allow users to pay to unlock new content and additional benefits such as unannounced listening, Tim Cook said during the presentation.
The price of each subscription will be set by the creator and billed monthly, Apple said in a press release.
It also introduced a new Apple Podcasters program that will cost $ 19.99 a month and provide creators with the tools they need to offer podcast subscriptions.
The company will also redesign its Apple Podcast app to include channels, which will allow users to find new shows from their favorite creators and hosts, Cook said.
The functions will be rolled out in 170 regions next month.
“Spotify has increased the lead in podcasting,” spending about $ 1 billion expanding its business beyond music, said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Given that (Apple) basically originated podcasting, it would be hard to swallow to lose against Spotify.”
Spotify’s acquisitions include approximately $ 340 million to purchase Gimlet and Anchor podcast networks in 2019, according to presentations, and $ 235 million was reported in 2020 to acquire Megaphone, which offers advertising technology for podcasts.
The company has also signed exclusive podcasting deals with big names like Michelle Obama, Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian.
Apple is dedicated to creating original podcasts, available in the Apple Podcast app. Earlier this month he released “The Line,” a true crime series that includes both a podcast and a documentary on its Apple TV + broadcast service.
Tuesday’s launch represents an increasingly deep rift between Apple and Spotify, as the latter has complained to European regulators that Apple is unfairly pushing its own music streaming app.
With its new service, Apple will face the challenge of convincing users to pay for podcasts “when there is a universe available for free,” said Nick Quah, who writes Hot Pod, an industry newsletter about the world of podcasts. .
“We’re already used to paying for a catalog of TV shows,” he said. “I don’t think people are used to podcasts.”
While the iPhone maker has long struggled to expand beyond device sales, its previous forays into publishing premium content have a mixed trajectory, according to some analysts.
Apple Music, a subscription streaming service that launched in 2015, years after Spotify, is now number 2 in market share.
Apple TV +, its video streaming service with original shows and movies released in 2019, still poses no threat to dominant players like Netflix, said Jeff Wlodarczak, an entertainment and subscription services analyst Pivotal Research Group interactive.
“I think Spotify management can sleep through the night if Apple makes that move,” Wlodarczak said.
Sheila Dang Reports; edited by Kenneth Li, Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman