According to a recent report from Fortune, Apple has recently been shopping around for business partnerships that would bring new podcasts to life that all – if this comes to fruition, that is – will be owned exclusively by Apple.
Podcasts are currently one of the most popular types of content consumed on the World Wide Web. The long-format type of content has exploded in popularity over the past few years, which is consumed both in video form, such as on YouTube, or in strictly audio form.
According to Edison Research, a trusted market research company, podcasts’ popularity here in the United States have more than doubled since a half-decade ago, with some one-third of the U.S. population aged 12 or older thought to listen to podcasts at least once a month.
Per the report that was published earlier today, on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, multiple unnamed sources who work at Apple Inc. were responsible for initially sharing the development.
After the piece was published today, Spotify’s share price fell nearly two percent, as Apple’s reported motives will significantly increase competition with Spotify and other streaming platforms. Spotify has already poured tons of money into the creation of all-new podcasts that are owned entirely by the company.
Apple’s share price dropped short of one percent today, though this news was not yet reported at the time Wall Street’s trading hours were initially opened.
According to Daniel Ek, the Chief Executive Officer of Spotify, the company is slated to pump anywhere between $400 and $500 million into forming original podcasts throughout all of 2019. Spotify has already gobbled up Anchor and Gimlet Media, two up-and-coming startups that pump out and curate podcasts. Neiman Lab reports that Spotify offered up some $230 million to the owners of Gimlet Media to acquire the company, which pumps out popular podcasts among the likes of “Startup,” “Homecoming,” and “Reply All.”
One reason why Apple’s reported interest in investing in the curation of original podcasts is of concern to other industry competitors and market experts ie because Podcasts, Apple’s official app for listening to, storing, and sorting through podcasts, is likely used more than any other such mobile app on the planet.
Right now, Apple simply provides a long list of outside sources where its Podcasts users can download podcasts from servers that independent service providers operate.
The sources also indicated that Apple’s decision-makers weren’t yet sure about whether the company would move forward with its plans to fund its own exclusive podcasts.
Dil Bole Oberoi
