Apple Podcast Design Docs, Buying 📚on Spotify iOS, & More

Spotify iOS users can now buy audiobooks directly from the app by Anna Washenko

Apple has approved a new app update for Spotify, allowing users in the U.S. to see the cash price of individual audiobooks and buy ‘top up’ hours for audiobook listening if they want more than the 15 listen-hours included with Spotify Premium by default. This brings Spotify back closer to the original plan for direct-purchase audiobooks back in 2022, which was cancelled in lieu of the current listen-hour system due to Apple restrictions on payment processing and a ban on directing app users to go purchase things on a website outside of Apple’s ecosystem. Now, with the Epic Games v. Apple court ruling in favor of Epic Games, direct purchases within Spotify iOS can use external payment methods beyond the one subject to Apple fees. Thanks to some help from an iOS-using Sounds Profitable member (thanks, Lauren!) we can also confirm Spotify on iOS redirects to a payment page outside the app whenever users sign up for a premium podcast subscription.

How Kara Swisher Scaled Even Higher by Jessica Testa and Benjamin Mullin

Swisher, a tech journalist known for frank interviews with hard-hitting questions, has co-hosted the news discussion podcast Pivot with Scott Galloway since 2018. Once their initial contract with Vox came up for renewal Galloway and Swisher shopped their stable of five podcasts around. While they were offered more standard contracts (e.g. $40 million for four years’ exclusivity), they re-signed with Vox with a more unique premise: Over the duration of the contract Pivot will allocate around 30% of income to Vox while the hosts split the remaining 70%. According to Galloway’s estimation, the podcasts are on track to earn $100 million in revenue over the next four years. There’s two perspectives here for the business of podcasting to focus on: 1. This is an example of successful podcast producers betting on the health of the industry long-term over taking a quick payday. And 2. Podcasting has made a name for itself to the point the contract negotiations of a news chat podcast are being covered in The New York Times with the same narrative intensity as a big-name television contract negotiation.

Design – Apple Podcasts for Creators

Apple Podcasts Manger – Middle East, Turkey, India & Africa, Rami Boraie, announced on LinkedIn this morning that Apple Podcasts for Creators now has a new section of their site dedicated to templates, guides, and marketing materials designed to enable podcasters to present their shows as well as possible in Apple Podcasts. This also debuts a partnership with Canva to allow podcasters to create “everything from your full page show arts to social media posts.”

Welcome to Coworking, a recurring feature in The Download where we highlight some of the folks working in the business of podcasting. If you’d like to toss your hat in the ring and answer some questions, here’s the form to submit!

Today I’d like to spotlight Cassandra Faulding, Marketing Director and Producer at Wellness Loud. A career-defining moment that shifted how she approaches podcasting was her experience building out a set for My Favorite Murder when they played the Microsoft Theater. During that event, Faulding got to see the connection MFM had with its audience firsthand. She says one of the biggest pieces of advice she can give to someone breaking into the business side of podcasting is “podcasting is its own beast.” While some frameworks and SOPs can be brought over from other industries, podcasting is still a somewhat unexplored landscape where one can still make their own way. Catch Cassandra’s full interview here on Sounds Profitable!

As for the rest of the news…