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Wanna understand the future of Apple Podcasts?
I read through the “Apple Podcasters Program Agreement” and related documentation so you don’t have to. Here’s a thread of the things that caught my eye that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere else.
I read through the “Apple Podcasters Program Agreement” and related documentation so you don’t have to. Here’s a thread of the things that caught my eye that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere else.
For the first time ever, Apple is offering first-party podcast hosting (in addition to third-party hosting providers). You can create a show with subscriber-only benefits available only to listeners on Apple Podcasts. https://podcasters.apple.com/support/897-submit-a-show
For the Podcasts hosted by Apple (not RSS content), you grant them them right to implement their DRM solution.
For the Podcasts hosted by Apple (not RSS content), you can’t upload MP3s, only WAV or FLAC files.https://podcasters.apple.com/support/825-how-to-create-an-episode
Tangent for the pedants: Apple defines a Show as “a series of Podcast episodes” and Podcast as ”a piece of audio or audio/visual content”
If you didn’t notice the “Try Luminary Free” button in the press release, you can enable free trials and select a duration from a list of options decided by Apple.https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/04/apple-leads-the-next-chapter-of-podcasting-with-apple-podcasts-subscriptions/
By agreeing to the Apple Podcasters Program, you’re also authorizing Apple to create transcripts of your show that may be available in Apple Podcasts to end users.
You’re also granting the right for Apple to use your Podcast Content to train machine learning models.
This agreement covers everywhere Apple Podcasts may be available, including Android.
Apple places no restrictions on including advertising in your podcasts and doesn’t want a cut of your ad sales. However, if you were to pitch a subscription tier as ”ad-free“…
Just like the App Store, Apple owns the customer relationship and can choose to offer a refund if they decide you haven’t fulfilled the benefits offered in your subscription. You have to reimburse the money, but Apple retains their cut, natch.
If you offer additional features (Could this include interactive features like Q&A, polls, etc?) in platforms other than Apple Podcasts, you agree to make a good faith effort to include those features in Apple Podcasts.
Thanks for reading, instead of “unrolling this thread” or whatever. You can find the whole thing over on my blog. While you’re there, subscribe to my newsletter to get notified when I do another post like this. https://nathangathright.com/the-future-of-apple-podcasts/
