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> Does anyone else take issue with Spotify branching out into other arenas (e.g., Podcasts, TV, Audiobooks, etc.)? > I subscribe to Spotify to listen to music,

> Does anyone else take issue with Spotify branching out into other arenas (e.g., Podcasts, TV, Audiobooks, etc.)? > I subscribe to Spotify to listen to music, not podcasts. My podcasts arrive using a different app with the backing of the RSS standard, not Spotify's internal standard 100%. I will never touch Spotify Podcasts for that reason and that a number of the podcasts I listen to have specifically talked about Spotify's shitty/scummy practices around podcasts (like grabbing their audio and hosting it on Spotify's servers which cuts off the only traffic/demographics info that podcasts currently have access to). Anyone with half a brain would take one look at what Spotify is doing and run in the opposite direction. They don't care about the open nature of podcasts and they want to lure people in then put a wall up around them. If a podcast is only on Spotify it's immediately a podcast I don't care about because those podcast creators don't give a shit about the medium of podcasts, no self-respecting podcaster would walk into that lions den. With this new move into audiobooks I need to seriously reconsider using Spotify. I've enjoyed using it (and paying for it) since launch but I'm sick of their gross moves and whiny-baby attitude (also after getting access to APIs refusing to implement them, really shows how full of shit their claims are). Maybe I need to look into 3rd-party Apple Music players since the AM app is some of the worst UI/UX for a music app.

CharlesW 4y ago
> They don't care about the open nature of podcasts and they want to lure people in then put a wall up around them. This is key. "Podcasts" and "podcasting" were created to refer to an open medium, but Spotify's intentional adoption and perversion of those words to refer to their proprietary platform has worked brilliantly. We're further down the embrace/extend/extinguish path than most people realize.
- eduction 4y ago
  Do you think there should be podcast that are paywalled, or are you against that on principle? And if you support paywalled podcasts, what, in your mind, would be the correct way for Spotify to implement them? (I'm genuinely curious your answer, but to lay my cards and biases on the table: I prefer paid podcasts to the ad supported ones; I'm tired of hearing all the Casper and Squarespace ads woven into the content. And I have trouble imagining a typical Spotify listener (interested in, say, Joe Rogan podcast) properly moving a personalized premium RSS feed into another client without a ton of chaos and confusion.)
  - pwinnski 4y ago
    As ctoth said in cousin comment, HTTP Basic Auth seems to work well for content like that: https://subscriber-id:subscriber-token@podcast.host/feed.rss https://subscriber-id:subscriber-token@podcast.host/feed.rss It's open, no proprietary client required. I, for one, am not totally against the idea of paid-subscription-only podcasts, though I hope they don't completely push out free podcasts.
  - joshstrange 4y ago
    > Do you think there should be podcast that are paywalled, or are you against that on principle? I have zero issue in paywalled podcasts, in fact I pay about $35/mo across various podcasts. Every single one of those gives me a special RSS feed with a token in the URL. There is no need for a service/platform to support this, it works perfectly today. A few of those podcasts are from Patreon and they have support for this built in (not that the "tech" behind this is groundbreaking). I almost always pay if it's an option because I abhor ads in every form. I don't listen to many "mass market" podcasts, I think the largest podcast I listen to regularly (aside from some NPR ones I occasionally listen to) is ATP (Accidental Tech Podcast, which probably pales in comparison to the "Serials" and similar) and they offer a subscription ($8/mo).
ROTMetro 4y ago
Thank you for this comment. I was listening to Podcasts on Spotify think it would help get those podcasts attention. I'll switch away from doing that now.

CharlesW 4y ago

> They don't care about the open nature of podcasts and they want to lure people in then put a wall up around them. This is key. "Podcasts" and "podcasting" were created to refer to an open medium, but Spotify's intentional adoption and perversion of those words to refer to their proprietary platform has worked brilliantly. We're further down the embrace/extend/extinguish path than most people realize.

eduction 4y ago
Do you think there should be podcast that are paywalled, or are you against that on principle? And if you support paywalled podcasts, what, in your mind, would be the correct way for Spotify to implement them? (I'm genuinely curious your answer, but to lay my cards and biases on the table: I prefer paid podcasts to the ad supported ones; I'm tired of hearing all the Casper and Squarespace ads woven into the content. And I have trouble imagining a typical Spotify listener (interested in, say, Joe Rogan podcast) properly moving a personalized premium RSS feed into another client without a ton of chaos and confusion.)
- pwinnski 4y ago
  As ctoth said in cousin comment, HTTP Basic Auth seems to work well for content like that: https://subscriber-id:subscriber-token@podcast.host/feed.rss https://subscriber-id:subscriber-token@podcast.host/feed.rss It's open, no proprietary client required. I, for one, am not totally against the idea of paid-subscription-only podcasts, though I hope they don't completely push out free podcasts.
- joshstrange 4y ago
  > Do you think there should be podcast that are paywalled, or are you against that on principle? I have zero issue in paywalled podcasts, in fact I pay about $35/mo across various podcasts. Every single one of those gives me a special RSS feed with a token in the URL. There is no need for a service/platform to support this, it works perfectly today. A few of those podcasts are from Patreon and they have support for this built in (not that the "tech" behind this is groundbreaking). I almost always pay if it's an option because I abhor ads in every form. I don't listen to many "mass market" podcasts, I think the largest podcast I listen to regularly (aside from some NPR ones I occasionally listen to) is ATP (Accidental Tech Podcast, which probably pales in comparison to the "Serials" and similar) and they offer a subscription ($8/mo).

ROTMetro 4y ago

Thank you for this comment. I was listening to Podcasts on Spotify think it would help get those podcasts attention. I'll switch away from doing that now.