Apple’s actual role in podcasting: be careful what you wish for

Good article. Podcasts still have a 'Web 2.0', pre-Facebook ethos: there's a feed, and there are software clients that check the feed and get a direct link to the mp3 file. Personally, I want to make a site that archives podcast episode listings, and guess what? If I have the time and energy, I can make it. Getting the data--new episodes, episode descriptions, cover images--is not an issue. The more that top publishers want Apple to introduce tracking, revenue sharing, etc. the more all related data would get centralized, and as Marco points out, in the long run podcast publishers might start resenting Apple for becoming a major intermediary, the same way online publishers resent decisions made by Facebook.

I&#x27;m a big fan of podcasting, and I totally rely on iTunes for podcast discovery, indexing, curation, and syndication. Many Apple critics don&#x27;t seem to appreciate this amazing service. Whatever Apple&#x27;s motive was at the beginning (probably to promote the sale of iPod and iPhone hardware), podcasting has taken on a life of its own.<p>Most of my favorite radio shows are now available as podcasts, including ESPN. These podcasts are generally available with 24 hours after the first radio broadcast. Broadcasters generally edit out the commercials that radio listeners hear. Some broadcasters also insert a few new ads, often at the beginning or end of a podcast.<p>Commercial radio broadcasters everywhere have enjoyed a long run of high profitability, but their business model is under threat now. The tradition of free podcasting doesn&#x27;t fly with them. Podcasting as we know it may be over soon unless we take steps to preserve it.

For the most part I like how the podcasting environment currently functions, but I do think that Apple&#x27;s outsized power leads to some frustrating practices. I have found many podcasters who only list an iTunes URL. I rarely if ever use iTunes (as it requires booting my barely-touched Windows VM), and even with it open it is annoying to find the actual RSS address if it is even possible. The interface is so bad that I usually resort to using WireShark or a URL sniffing program to locate the actual feed.

I&#x27;ve started a podcast in the last three months that has grown to 25K listens&#x2F;month. Our listeners come thru owned social media channels, so I don&#x27;t need anything more from Apple other than a publishing platform and listening app. Amd there are alternatives if Apple fucks that up - such as SoundCloud.<p>We publish on iTunes through Libsyn as well as SoundCloud. Libsyn and SoundCloud provide analytics. It&#x27;s not a paid podcast, but Patreon seems like one way to achieve that.<p>As a content creator I can&#x27;t control what the platforms do. My best strategy is to diversify.

I get not wanting Apple to manage payments or data analytics.<p>Wouldn&#x27;t it be possible for podcasters to add some sort of protocol for paid podcasts that could be integrated into apps? Like &quot;purchase URL&quot; (or some sort of stripe-y token or anything).<p>I also don&#x27;t really think that giving podcast producers playback data would be a bad thing. The thing that creeps me out the most about ad cookies on the web is the cross-domain tracking, but if we&#x27;re talking about behavioural data for a podcast just to that producer, sounds like it could be a net benefit.<p>I feel like this post is mixing concepts (making paid content in podcast form more viable) with implementation details (Apple doing it). Though it&#x27;s in response to the NYT article that does the same thing.<p>Feel like there&#x27;s a lack of imagination, and there likely are ways to do things in a decentralised way

slightly off topic: just went from ios 8.4 to 9.3. apples podcast app has become so bad ui-wise. it&#x27;s now the same crap that is the music app. almost unusable - especially while driving. somebody at apple needs to bleed for that shit. forstall and jobs did a better job at this.

&gt; Big podcasters also apparently want Apple to insert itself as a financial intermediary to allow payment for podcasts within Apple’s app. We’ve seen how that goes. Trust me, podcasters, you don’t want that.<p>Is Marco referring to In-App purchases in apps and how it changed them? Or the book store, which I would find more compelling?

How do you make playlist auto play in Overcast? It plays one podcast and stops. I&#x27;m asking it here because the author doesn&#x27;t reply either in email or twitter and don&#x27;t know where else can I post?

I would never trust a single podcast provider. Many of the more interesting podcasts I listen to have been kicked off of one platform or another.

Was there any controversy over Stitcher&#x27;s downloading, re-processing and streaming all of the podcasts? Has anyone else tried such a thing?

it&#x27;s almost as if he&#x27;s trying to tell us that not everything on the web needs to have advertisements stuffed into it, and not everything needs data that can be collected. Good article.

While Marco seem right at some points, reading this article leaves the impression that he seems afraid of Apple affecting his business. Which is perfectly normal, don&#x27;t know why people seem to bash him because of that.

Marco seems upset because Apple, to whom he owes his livelihood, is about to ruin his business. I think he has a much bigger problem than the podcast producers, who might finally get a larger platform and more attention, especially if Apple thinks they can turn podcasts into a competitive weapon in the streaming wars.<p>Sorry Marco, you chose the wrong centralized OS platform for your vision of a decentralized podcast future.