The announcement could already arrive at tomorrow's Spring Loaded event: Apple wants to launch a subscription service with exclusive podcasts.
It could be called Podcasts+ and be available only through the Apple Podcasts app the new service that, according to the latest rumors, Apple will present tomorrow during the Spring Loaded event. Rumors that come from Peter Kafka, anchor man of Vox Media, who published the rumor on Twitter.
According to Kafka it would be a completely new service and subscription, with which Apple would compete with other companies already active in the difficult but promising podcast sector, first of all Spotify. There are several clues, in addition to Kafka's words, that make credible the hypothesis Podcast+ (or whatever its name is), first of all the well-known fact that Apple is trying to earn more and more from the sale of services rather than hardware (i.e. computers, laptops, iPhone, iPad and wearable devices such as the Apple Watch). Apple has already launched its Apple One universal subscription, which already packs in US Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and 2TB of iCloud space. Adding podcasts just seems like the natural progression.
What Podcasts+ might look like
Most likely, the distribution model Apple will choose for this new subscription podcast service will be similar to what we've already seen for TV shows: the Apple TV+ subscription service can only be enjoyed through the Apple TV app.
So, Podcasts+ content will likely only be listened to through the Apple Podcasts app. Apple, al momento, produce solo pochissimi podcast e li distribuisce tramite le normali piattaforme già esistenti.
Un nuovo abbonamento Apple?
Più dubbi ci sono invece sul tipo di abbonamento che sarà necessario per ascoltare Podcast+: Apple potrebbe inserirlo all’interno di Apple Music (magari come opzione aggiuntiva a pagamento) o renderlo un abbonamento indipendente. Nel secondo caso sarebbe possibile abbonarsi solo ai podcast e non anche alla musica.
Quel che è certo, però, è che in un modo o nell’altro Podcasts+ andrà ad arricchire il pacchetto di abbonamenti inclusi in Apple One (qui vi spieghiamo cosa include l’abbonamento in Italia). Molto probabilmente all’inizio sarà aggiunto gratuitamente in tutti i tre tipi di abbonamento (Individual, Family e Premier), in futuro magari solo in quelli Premier più costosi.