Ok. This is Lex. I am posting from my Micro.Blog app on my iPad. I am thinking of making some changes to engage more on the internet. Among other things, I want to podcast more. I am going to open an account with the Anchor services for podcasts. Among other things, Spotify recently purchased Anchor. That can be a good thing or bad thing. Anchor makes it easier to publish podcasts easier on the internet and also to get sponsors and ads. But Spotify might make podcasts who use Anchor be exclusive on Spotify. That wouldn’t be good because then some podcasts would be only on Spotify and not in iTunes or not on the open internet. But I like that fact that Anchor makes it easier to get sponsors and ads. That is what YouTube did to make it easier to get paid if you created video contents.
Apple frankly should step in and match Spotify. Apple for many years led the way with podcasts by creating a director in iTunes. Apple should make it easy for podcasters to monetize when they publish a podcast into iTunes. Right now, I had done a few podcasts through the Wavelength App that Micro.blog has. It costs $10 per month to publish podcasts through Micro.blog. But Micro.blog has limits on the amount of podcasts you can host per month and time limits. Plus, Micro.blog doesn’t make it easy to get suponsorships or ads, nor does it make it easy to collaborate with others on your podcast. Among other things, I am trying to figure out how to redirect my Micro.blog podcast to Anchor and I don’t see an easy way to do it.
I think Apple has to compete with Spotify in this move by Spotify to host podcasts. In addition to purchasing Anchor, Spotify is purchasing Gimlet, which is a company that makes pretty good podcasts. So Spotify is going into content by purchasing Gimlet. It seems that Spotify wants to diversify form just being involved with streaming music. If Spotify can sell ads against people’s podcast, similar to YouTube selling ads on videos, Spotify maybe will get additional revenues and profits. Apple, which had been the king of podcasts for many years, should get into this act. Apple is not trying to get revenue from services, rather than just selling iPhones, iPads, and Macintoshs. If Apple can take a cut from ads from Podcasts and also help people making podcasts, that could be a good business. So I hope Apple steps in.
