Apple's subscription business seems to be going quite well. While official figures on Apple's subscriptions almost always remain a mystery, we now have some solid insight into just how well Apple Podcast is doing. Apple Podcast has seen a 300% growth in subscriber count since June 2021, revealed an Apple spokesperson to Digiday.
Apple Podcast has a rapidly growing subscriber base
The Apple spokesperson spoke to Digiday in relation to NBC's Dateline getting a paid subscription through Apple Podcasts. They said over a fourth of the top 100 shows in Apple's Top Shows list offer a subscription. Again, we didn't get an exact number of subscribers that Apple Podcast currently has, but a 300% increase in roughly 14 months is great growth regardless.
It's not surprising, though, given Apple's push to grow its podcast business. We recently reported about a deal Apple made with Futuro Studios, with plans to increase spending on podcasts. Such a move could not have come if the company wasn't sure about Apple Podcast, and this growth metric definitely backs that up.
Bloomberg reported that Apple had spent about $10 million on pushing its podcast business with new content opportunities. The NBC Dateline arrangement seems to be just another move in that same direction.
Of course, the $10 million spent is not nearly as close to the $1 billion+ that Spotify and Amazon have spent. Apple is focusing on original programming, which we've seen work well with Apple TV+. The company sees Podcast as an important component of that equation. We've also seen Apple market its podcasts along with Apple TV+ content. Both these apps come preloaded on most new Apple devices, including the best iPhones.
We can expect more and more content to hit Apple Podcast soon. There's a solid selection of podcasts on the service already, and if you want to subscribe to a podcast on Apple Podcast, you might want to keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming releases.
