Spotify is reportedly planning to monetize its podcasts by launching a separate subscription service. That’s according to a new survey spotted by Andrew Wallenstein, Chief Media Analyst & President at Variety‘s Intelligence Platform.
According to the survey, there are at least four potential subscription models, starting from $2.99 per month to $7.99 per month. In case you’re wondering, the existing Spotify Premium plan costs $9.99 per month in the U.S. Notably, these podcast plans are different from the regular Spotify Premium and will not include ad-free access to music.
Some of these plans have perks including the omission of platform inserted ads, early access to interviews and episodes, and exclusive additional content. You can take a look at the specifics in the images below:
Looks like the premium podcast plan would be ad-free and some mix of exclusive extra content at price points somewhere between $3-$8. pic.twitter.com/ArK8xYg0CM
— Andrew Wallenstein (@awallenstein) November 6, 2020
Spotify, however, denies the existence or a potential plan to introduce podcast subscriptions in the near future. “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of surveys in an effort to improve our user experience. Some of those end up paving the path for our broader user experience and others serve only as important learnings. We have no further news to share on future plans at this time,” a Spotify spokesperson told The Verge.
With exclusive podcasts from famous personalities including Kim Kardashian West, Joe Rogan, and Michelle Obama, Spotify’s plan to cash in on podcasts doesn’t come as a surprise, especially now that the company is looking for ways to increase prices. However, it will be interesting to see if users will consider enrolling in a full-fledged podcast subscription to get prioritized access to podcasts without ads.
