Apple Podcasts Subscriptions unveiled at Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event

Apple revealed Apple Podcasts Subscriptions during its virtual ‘Spring Loaded’ event today. Starting next month, listeners in more than 170 regions and countries will be able to sign up for premium podcasts subscriptions that include a number of benefits curated by creators, like early and exclusive access to new series or movies, access to additional content, or ad-free listening.

Apple Podcasts is a global marketplace for listeners to discover premium subscriptions offered by their favorite creators alongside millions of free shows available on the streaming service.

Apple Podcasts Subscriptions

Apple Podcasts Subscriptions announced at Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event

Some of the creators include Tenderfoot TV, QCODE, Pushkin Industries, and Radiotopia from PRX, as well as media and entertainment brands like Sony Music Entertainment, NPR, The Athletic, Los Angeles Times, and many more.

Fifteen years ago, Apple took podcasts mainstream, offering creators a premier, open platform to inform, entertain, and inspire hundreds of million of listeners around the world. Today, Apple Podcasts is the best place for listeners to discover and enjoy millions of great shows, and we are proud to lead the next chapter of podcasting with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. We are excited to introduce this powerful new platform to creators around the world, and we can’t wait to hear what they make of it.

Apple Podcasts Subscriptions unveiled at Apple's 'Spring Loaded' event

Starting with the launch of iOS 14.5, listeners can also access a completely redesigned Podcasts app featuring an enhanced Search tab that offers quick access to Top Charts and different categories. The redesigned app also features stunning new pages for every show and episode to make it easier to follow, listen to, and share. Listeners can also save separate episodes that are downloaded for offline playback, making it easier to bookmark podcasts to listen to later from Library. Martina Abrahams Ilunga, CEO and chief editor of You Had Me At Black said:

As an independent show that started five years ago, we’ve always been powered by our community. And our community is hungry for more! More stories and more episodes — sooner. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions empowers us to deliver that. With our subscription, listeners can hear new seasons and episodes first, before anyone else, while also supporting our growth and sustainability.

Apple is taking a very keen interest in creators who use their platforms to reach listeners, despite people speculating that the tech company would launch a subscription service to promote its own original content. That could mean ad-free shows or brand-new shows that only exist on Apple’s platform.

Starting next month, podcast publishers will be able to sell subscriptions to individual shows or groups of shows, and set their own pricing, starting at 49 cents a month in the United States. In order to offer subscriptions, content creators will have to pay Apple $19.99 per year. The tech giant will keep 30% of any subscription revenue creators generate in their first year on the platform. After that, the company’s cut will drop to 15% which is standard for most of Apple’s services.

The all-new website for Apple Podcasts Creators helps them learn more about podcasting, explore in-depth guides with best practices, and stay informed about the latest features and news. Starting today, creators can access an updated Apple Podcasts Connect dashboard, which comes with new features that make it easier to manage shows on the app, the ability to edit metadata, organize shows into channels, manage multiple users and roles, schedule and manage show availability, and much more.

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About the Author

Usman has been playing games for as long as he can remember. He is an editor at iThinkDifferent and writes about games, Apple news, hardware, productivity guides, and more. When not writing for iTD, Usman loves to play competitive Team Fortress 2, spends time honing his football skills, and watches superhero movies.