How To Find Out How Many Podcast Subscribers

Apple tree Podcasts is rolling out new features to incentivize podcasters to offer paid subscriptions to listeners on the app. One of those features will -- for better or for worse -- reveal to podcasters in their private analytics dashboard how many people follow them on Apple Podcasts. Get ready for an ego check!

For whatever reason, follower counts haven't been visible to creators, though the Apple Podcasts Connect page has shown stats about how many listeners you accept, how long people listen earlier dropping off and how different episodes perform compared to one another.

Some podcasters might notice that their stats on Apple Podcasts Connect are lower than expected, though. The majority of U.S. podcast listeners use Spotify, so these analytics, which just testify Apple Podcasts listenership, don't offering creators a holistic pic of their show's performance (nonetheless, the drop-off charge per unit can be useful information, since that data betoken isn't available on distribution platforms like Libsyn).

"Listeners who follow a testify desire to receive new episodes every bit they go available, so a show's followers can serve as an indicator for those likely to subscribe," Apple wrote in a blog post.

By Apple tree's logic, if you lot detect that you have a lot of followers on their app, you might consider launching paywalled content through their subscription service, which launched less than a year agone. Podcasters hosting exclusive, subscriber-only content hold to pay Apple a 30% cut of their subscription revenue in yr one, followed by 15% in year two. But for those who release paywalled content on Spotify, the platform currently isn't taking a revenue cut, and after two years after its launch, information technology will take 5%. Other podcasters may choose to monetize their shows in a different way entirely by creating fan memberships on platforms similar Patreon, which may include admission to private Discord servers that help cultivate a community around a show, as opposed to just offer platform-specific bonus content.

A screenshot of Apple Podcasts' analytics dashboard

Image Credits: Apple Podcasts

But Apple's advantage is that its app comes pre-downloaded on your iPhone, then newer podcast listeners may find it easier to subscribe to a show on an app they already have. Apple is and so eager to get a chunk of podcasters' revenue that it'due south launching Jump Start, a programme that offers podcasters direct guidance from the Apple Podcasts squad to develop their subscription offerings. But this guidance is only available to members of the Apple Podcasters Program -- people who have already opted into selling a subscription on Apple Podcasts by paying a $19.99 annual fee.

A few more minor updates for those enrolled in the plan: Now, you lot can upload .mp3 files as subscriber-just audio (previously, you lot could only upload .wav and .flac), and y'all can customize the subscription banner that appears on your show.

All updates will scroll out today, except for that tantalizing follower count, which will appear on creators' Apple Podcasts Connect dashboards next month.