Just as Apple announced their paid Subscriptions service for the Apple Podcasts platform, Spotify has unveiled their own Podcasts Subscriptions, which will serve as a method of monetization for creators on the platform. As a way of enticing creators, Spotify also announced that they will not take commission from these creators for two years.
The feature will be available for creators on Anchor, who can mark episodes as subscriber-only and publish them to Spotify. Once published, these episodes will give creators maximized revenue, with a wider reach and discoverability.
As an introductory offer, Spotify will be waiving their commission for the next two years, post which in 2023 they will take a cut of 5% as access for this service. In comparison, Apple will take a 30% cut of the revenue in the first year and then a 15% cut for the subsequent years.
While Apple did not set fixed subscription prices for creators using their service, Spotify will be offering three price tiers for subscriptions on their service, which will be $2.99, $4.99 or $7.99 per month. Spotify will also not charge creators with a yearly fee to access these tools, which is the opposite of Apple, who is charging creators $20 a year to access these tools.
Podcast subscriptions are launching today for users in the U.S., and will be expanding to more regions in the coming months.