Apple has officially launched its Apple Podcast Subscriptions service.
The new service, which differs from other services such as Apple TV+ and Apple News+, allows podcasters and creators to charge subscribers and followers a small monthly fee for extra content.
The scheme was first announced back in April, and although it had been planned to launch sooner, Apple delayed the release of the service following complaints about the redesign of the Apple Podcasts app, which made it harder to find podcasts you were subscribed to and access the most recent episodes of each show.
Now that issues have been ironed out, the company has officially launched the service.
Users who subscribe to a monthly subscription can enjoy an ad-free listening experience, as well as bonus content. The idea is to pay less than a dollar for a subscription and works on the same framework as Patreon.
Apple will take a 30% cut of all commission from Podcasts Subscriptions, so creators will hold onto 70% of all subscription revenue. What’s more, users must subscribe and access the content inside of the Apple Podcasts app: if they subscribe but then try to listen to the podcast on Spotify, for example, they won’t get bonus content.
Are you pleased to see this service launch? Let us know and check back soon for more news and rumors.