3 ms·

Yeah, until Spotify and Apple have their way and balkanize the industry... sigh

by CarelessExpert 5y ago

jessaustin 5y ago
Rogan disappeared for me when his feed died. No one is forcing us to install those apps.
- CarelessExpert 5y ago
  Rogan is just one example. The whole podcasting space is going through a period of massive consolidation as podcast networks get bought up by the likes of Spotify and Apple (e.g. Gimlet). I won't be in the least bit surprised if those existing acquisitions are eventually forced to shut down their RSS feeds and go exclusive, and for new acquisitions to start out that way, as Netflix has proven content is the way to drive more subscribers to their platforms. Meanwhile, Spotify and Apple have a huge advantage over RSS-based podcasts: data. The simple fact is, thanks to their walled garden, app-centric platforms, they can collect more behavioural data and target advertising more effectively, which means they draw advertisers away and make it a lot harder for everyone else to compete. Do these headwinds stop the small players from continuing to publish via RSS? No, not at all. But if the bulk of the money and audience shifts to those walled gardens due to their owning the biggest names in the business while enabling the kind of surveillance capitalism that's so in demand, eventually the ecosystem built up around RSS is in danger of drying up.
  - chalst 5y ago
    There's no doubt these forces whose interests lie in suppressing content accessible via RSS exist and are powerful. But, despite what you say about Netflix, I don't see that these forces are becoming stronger. It's not just small content providers who benefit from RSS, it's also people rolling out new services who benefit from the existing RSS infrastructure. Even Apple went with RSS when they started to push podcasts, when they could have tried to usher podcasters into their existing and profitable iTunes walled garden.

Yeah, until Spotify and Apple have their way and balkanize the industry... sigh

jessaustin 5y ago

Rogan disappeared for me when his feed died. No one is forcing us to install those apps.

CarelessExpert 5y ago
Rogan is just one example. The whole podcasting space is going through a period of massive consolidation as podcast networks get bought up by the likes of Spotify and Apple (e.g. Gimlet). I won't be in the least bit surprised if those existing acquisitions are eventually forced to shut down their RSS feeds and go exclusive, and for new acquisitions to start out that way, as Netflix has proven content is the way to drive more subscribers to their platforms. Meanwhile, Spotify and Apple have a huge advantage over RSS-based podcasts: data. The simple fact is, thanks to their walled garden, app-centric platforms, they can collect more behavioural data and target advertising more effectively, which means they draw advertisers away and make it a lot harder for everyone else to compete. Do these headwinds stop the small players from continuing to publish via RSS? No, not at all. But if the bulk of the money and audience shifts to those walled gardens due to their owning the biggest names in the business while enabling the kind of surveillance capitalism that's so in demand, eventually the ecosystem built up around RSS is in danger of drying up.
- chalst 5y ago
  There's no doubt these forces whose interests lie in suppressing content accessible via RSS exist and are powerful. But, despite what you say about Netflix, I don't see that these forces are becoming stronger. It's not just small content providers who benefit from RSS, it's also people rolling out new services who benefit from the existing RSS infrastructure. Even Apple went with RSS when they started to push podcasts, when they could have tried to usher podcasters into their existing and profitable iTunes walled garden.