Recode reports that Apple is about to make some big changes to its incredibly popular Podcasts app, many of which will be very welcome to podcasters.
First of all, the revamped version of the app will see Apple providing podcasters with basic analytics that will tell them when their listeners play individual episodes, what part of the episode they listen to, which parts they skip, and when they stop listening to the podcast.
What makes this so remarkable is that presently Apple gives virtually no information at all to podcast creators about their audience’s listening habits, only letting them know when someone has downloaded an episode.
So basically, all those amazing, and, in some cases, now very rich and famous, podcasters out there, as well as their advertisers, have had no information to guide them when they create, or finance, their podcasts. That makes the success of the medium all the more remarkable, when you think about it! As Recode points out, “this is a subtle but very big change.”
“It may look obscure, but this is the biggest thing to happen to the podcast business since Serial first when nuclear” tweeted Matthew Lieber, president of Gimlet Media, the podcast studio responsible for Startup and Crimetown.
While some critics of the move think that it might actually spoil the podcast format that has worked so well until now, it is generally an exciting prospect for podcasters.
Source: Apple is going to let podcast creators — and advertisers — see what listeners actually like
