> RSS is alive and well and mainstream with podcasts.
Spotify (and other big players) are doing their best to end this.
As many as one in four podcast listeners currently use spotify to listen. The growing number of spotify-only podcasts are not available via RSS. Most of the listened-to podcasts may also be available as RSS, but the listeners wouldn't know either way. Spotify's goal is to be the chokepoint for podcasts.
Spotify isn't the only one. The way to make money on podcasts is by being the distribution platform, and by locking people in with non-open standards.
Spotify still uses RSS as a distribution channel from your host to Spotify - you supply a RSS feed through Spotify for Podcasters or another ingestion service. They don't allow adding by RSS feed for end users, but that's not all that rare among players.
But there are also spotify-only podcasts, which are not distributed to spotify like that, are not available via RSS or any other method but a spotify client.
This is an intentional business move by spotify. They are attempting to change the podcast landscape.
Although googling for recent sources, it looks like there's been some pushback and slight retreat -- looks like their plan wasn't exactly working. Yet. I'm sure they haven't given up yet:
> After the cancellations and resulting layoffs, members of the Gimlet union blamed Spotify’s exclusivity strategy for disappointing numbers. Although the shows were not behind a paywall (free subscribers to Spotify could access them, as well), they did not enjoy the kind of wide distribution that the shows did before the acquisition. It’s not like they don’t have a big platform — according to a study by Cumulus and Signal Hill, Spotify is tied with YouTube as the most-used podcasting platform. But even then, it only has about one-fifth of the market.
Spotify and Apple are both acting anti-competitively in different ways. Spotify has their exclusives (which from the looks of it seem to be largely not a huge success outside of Joe Rogan and something they appear to not be focusing on as much), but Apple is very anti-competitive when it comes to direct podcast monetization like support and subscriptions where Spotify has taken a very open approach.
If your player wasn't spotify, now you know why! Spotify bought them and took them spotify-exclusive, in part of an attempt to gain control of podcasting landscape.
And if you are typical, apparently the gimlet staff were right to be worried that this hurt their numbers!
Spotify (and other big players) are doing their best to end this.
As many as one in four podcast listeners currently use spotify to listen. The growing number of spotify-only podcasts are not available via RSS. Most of the listened-to podcasts may also be available as RSS, but the listeners wouldn't know either way. Spotify's goal is to be the chokepoint for podcasts.
Spotify isn't the only one. The way to make money on podcasts is by being the distribution platform, and by locking people in with non-open standards.