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Spotify has long faced criticism while buying its way into having a
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larger slice of the podcasting pie.
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At all levels.
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But that criticism is reaching a crescendo and podcasters are taking action.
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Should you?
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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
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So I suppose I cannot not talk about the Spotify
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thing, can I?
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This isn't
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a news show, nor is it an opinion show.
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However, I'm never afraid to display my own opinions to you.
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But this is a perspective show, and, not surprisingly, I do have a perspective on
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the Spotify-Neil Young-Joe Rogan spat.
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A few of them, actually.
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First off, if you have no idea of the spat of which I speak, bravo for
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you for avoiding all the crazy news.
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Nothing I'm about to say will make much sense at all without
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a primer on what's going on.
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It's just too much for me to recap.
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Luckily, today, Podnews has an excellent primer posted just this morning.
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I will put a link to that in the episode details.
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Before I get into this perspective shifting, I need
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to make a qualifying statement.
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I firmly believe your decision is your decision.
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As with any Podcast Pontifications episode, I'm not here to tell
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you what to think, only here to give you what to think about.
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Are you with me?
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All right, groovy.
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Now, if you find yourself in the "I'm A Podcaster And I'm Very Angry
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About Spotify" camp, consider the impact your actions, whatever you're
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going to do, will have on Spotify.
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I get it, you're angry.
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Spotify is not only profiting off of what Rogan is saying, but it's
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actually paying him to say it.
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There's not a lot of gray area there, I understand.
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But will removing your show from Spotify's directory impact Spotify financially?
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Will they know what's going to happen?
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Will they know that you've left?
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If you currently pay a Spotify-owned company to host your media files, remember
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they own more than Anchor, switching hosts will have a financial impact.
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Albeit perhaps a small one, depending on the size of your show.
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If you're using Spotify's monetization options, like providing premium
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content to people or perhaps using their ad server, then changing
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services will make a financial impact.
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But can you do that?
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Are you contractually locked in?
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If you're part of a Spotify-exclusive show, well, now you have a few
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more options, but also headaches of all these levers you can pull.
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Once you've examined all of the relevant questions for you, I want
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you to consider the impact your actions will have on your listeners.
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Pulling a show from Spotify means that anyone currently or in the
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future will no longer be able to listen to your show on what might
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be their preferred listening app.
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Perhaps you can mitigate that with a heartfelt plea to your listeners
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to make the switch to a different listening app, but you're not
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in control of that situation.
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They're going to make their own decisions, just like you make your own decision.
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And it's very likely that some of them, or maybe many of them, will not have
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the same strength of your conviction.
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Now, what if you're a podcaster who's not all that mad about this?
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Or maybe you're a podcaster who's even pro-Spotify?
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I have some perspectives for you as well.
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Remember earlier when I said that I would not tell you what to think?
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I am true to my word about that.
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Your decision is your decision.
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F.
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Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote, "The test of a first-rate intelligence
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is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and
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still retain the ability to function."
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That makes sense.
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We're going to have to do that some of the times.
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Also, consider this situation right now is very fluid.
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It's evolving.
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So I'm reticent to predict any sort of outcome where this is going to land.
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There's too many things in flux right now.
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And it's not just podcasters and musicians having a go at this right now.
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It's investors, it's paying subscribers, it's the competition.
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It's
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the monetizable audience
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that pays
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for the ad-supported—not free—services
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you might be using.
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Nothing lasts forever.
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You should probably, at the very least, prepare for that.
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What happens to your podcast if, in fact, Spotify
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blinks?
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The answer
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is probably nothing.
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Or, it could signal the beginning
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of Spotify's potential
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exit from podcasting.
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Again, I'm not making a prediction about that.
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I'm not even saying it's a likely outcome.
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It's a potential outcome.
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One that you, like all of us, should at least be aware of.
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So, do
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what you're going to do.
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My only
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request is that you do so with eyes wide open.
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Choose wisely.
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And with that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
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Cheers!
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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
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section of your podcast listening app.
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A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
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podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
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transcript, both created by Allie Press.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
