Most of us are familiar with subscription-based services like Netflix, Spotify or Amazon Prime. But have you thought about leveraging the very same business model for your podcast?
Podcast subscriptions have become more popular in recent years. This is great because many independent creators can generate recurring revenue directly from their podcast content, while providing a much better listening experience to their audience.
The problem is that existing solutions like Apple Podcast Subscriptions and Patreon may limit your creative freedom and flexibility – you’re just another podcaster on their platform and business. Plus, they often keep a hefty chunk of the profits. (8%-12% on Patreon and 30% on Apple)
Ideally – you’d have full control over your podcast subscription platform. Customize the look and feel of the platform, have multiple engagement channels with your site visitors, and have full flexibility of what type of content is being displayed alongside the podcast (i.e. – videos, blog posts, attachments, reviews and more)
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at podcast subscriptions and when to use them. Then, we’ll discuss the limitations of popular platforms before presenting the best option for serious podcasters. Let’s get to it!
What Are Podcast Subscriptions?
It’s a powerful way to monetize your content, without relying on podcast ads and sponsorships. Since it results in recurring revenue, it’s particularly appealing because it helps stabilize your income.
The best part is that you can keep some of your content freely accessible so new listeners can see the value of your show. Plus, you could start out with a free subscription that only requires listeners to create an account or join your mailing list.
You might even charge a subscription fee for listeners who was to access exclusive features and episodes. Note that the best membership podcasts offer multiple subscription tiers to cater to a range of interests and budgets.
Should You Offer Podcast Subscriptions?
Podcast subscriptions sound like a great way to earn money, right? But is it a suitable option for your show?
Typically, this monetization method only works for podcasts with an established listener base. If people aren’t engaging with your content for free, it can be tricky to attract paying members. So if you don’t yet have an audience, we recommend growing your subscriber count first.
Podcast subscriptions are also only effective if you’re offering something of value. Perhaps you operate within a podcast niche so listeners can’t find similar content elsewhere. Or maybe you position your episodes as a solution to your audiences’ problems.
It could also be the case that you host a super unique show that regularly interviews interesting podcast guests. In any of these instances, there’s a high likelihood that people will continue to interact with your episodes, even if you introduce subscriptions.
It might also make sense to offer podcast subscriptions if you want to set up a private podcast. Maybe you’re looking for a way to share internal company content, or you might run an educational podcast for a select group of students.
Common Ways to Offer Podcast Subscriptions
Now, let’s take a look at the existing options for offering podcast subscriptions:
- Beamly – with Beamly, you get to build your own platform – fully customizable and easy to use. You can feature your podcast, your blog, videos and even custom pages as part of your subscription program.
You’re in full control of the layout and the design, and have multiple built-in features to better engage with your audience. Host your podcasts, videos, publish posts, and create a beautiful website as well.
Furthermore, there’s a 0% transaction fee involved (besides standard Stripe fees) so you even get to keep a much higher percent of your income. - Apple Podcast Subscriptions – Apple keeps 30 percent of revenue in the first year (and 15 percent thereafter). However, listeners will require an Apple device and an Apple ID for payments.
- Spotify Podcast Subscriptions lets you keep 100 percent of your earnings (although it intends to take 5 percent of your profits eventually). That said, it’s limited to listeners in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia. Also – it’s only available for listeners who use Spotify, so that might limit your reach.
- Patreon is widely popular among podcasters as well. However, depending on your plan, Patreon pockets 8-12 percent of your income and it doesn’t allow you to create your own site or platform out of it.
- Buy Me a Coffee lets fans contribute without a long-term commitment (although you can sell subscriptions too). It’s ideal for building genuine connections with fans, but like other platforms, it’ll retain five percent of all transactions.
As you can see, the problem with popular subscription platforms is that you don’t get to keep all the revenue you earn.
While some prices aren’t too steep, Apple’s fee is quite hefty and Patreon’s fee structure might not work for you either. Additionally, some subscriptions (like Apple and Spotify) aren’t available to all listeners.
The Best Subscription Platform for Serious Podcasters
If you’re serious about creating a subscription podcast, the best solution is to set up your own membership website with a platform like Beamly.com.
This way, you’ll have complete control over your content, your prices and so on. Plus, more of the revenue generated via your subscriptions stays in your pocket.
Once you create an account, you can choose from a selection of beautiful pre-designed templates for your website:
You’ll also have access to essential features including an audio player, episode imports, podcast reviews, and more.
Better yet, Beamly comes with built-in membership options, so you don’t need to install a third-party service to offer subscriptions. You can add and manage your membership plans directly within the intuitive dashboard panel.
Beamly also supports free subscriptions, besides facilitating paid plans via Stripe:
This all comes with 0% transaction fees (besides standard Stripe fees) so you’re really optimizing it all.
Setting up a website is also a great idea because it doesn’t limit your subscriptions to just audio episodes. You’ll have the flexibility to restrict access to additional content types like video episodes, blog posts, and website pages.
On top of that, you have the option to create a fully private website with Beamly. Or, you could configure a private podcast (or private series) within the website.
You might also like to restrict access to individual content pieces like premium blog posts or bonus episodes, which you can do in the podcast episode settings:
Finally, Beamly offers more monetization opportunities than just subscriptions. You can combine memberships with podcast ads, donations, merchandise, and affiliate links, and manage them all from one central hub.
Conclusion
Many serious podcasters consider subscriptions to monetize content. This is also a good option if you want to restrict episode access or set up a completely private podcast.
This means you’ll require listeners to subscribe to your show or pay a recurring fee to engage with your material. While there are existing solutions available, popular platforms retain a portion of your earnings and/or limit your audience. Instead, it’s better to set up a podcast website.
With in-built membership options, Beamly makes it easy to configure free and paid subscription plans. Plus, you’ll have the flexibility to restrict content access to your entire catalog or specific episodes. And the best part is you’ll keep all your subscription revenue. Get started for free today!
