Spotify is ramping up its competition with Apple, with plans to introduce podcast subscriptions with no cut taken from the podcaster.
Apple announced some major changes to Podcasts at its Spring Loaded event. One of the biggest was paid subscriptions that would give individuals the ability to unlock ad-free listening, gain early access to new episodes and support their favorite podcasts.
Podcasters pay $19.99 a year to enable subscriptions, followed by 30% of any subscription revenue to Apple for the first year. The cut drops to 15% after the first year.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Spotify is preparing to unveil its own subscriptions — with one major difference: no cut taken from the content creator. Instead, 100% of the earnings will go to the creator.
Spotify has been working hard, and spending big, to dominate the podcasting space. If the WSJ’s sources are correct, the company may have a major competitive advantage versus Apple.