Spotify inserts their own ads into every podcast, regardless of whether you have premium or not. Then on top of that the podcasters themselves usually insert either ads or sponsorships into it too. I've seen countless podcasts do this now. In the worst cases that feels something like this: ad (by spotify) > introduction and depending on the podcaster potentially ads there too > barely any content > sponsorship > barely any content > ad (by spotify) > barely any content > podcast break and either sponsorship or ads by the podcaster > repeat for 2nd half

[–] Lemonparty@lemm.ee 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Genuine question - why does anyone listen to podcasts on Spotify? There have been and still are a TON of quality podcast apps that are 100% free and don't do this bullshit. Like, I'm aware Spotify has podcasts but in my mind Spotify is music, podcast app is podcasts. It was that way for more than a decade. I just don't get it TBH.

[–] ginerel@kbin.social 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Probably they just want to use the same app they're using for listening to music. Although I also have them both. And I love AntennaPod more for podcasts, plus there's no tracking, and it's just a different experience overall.

[–] Lemonparty@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago

Seems weird to me in a day and age where switching apps is literally just a swipe of a finger. People will jump from Instagram to tik tok to texting to emailing to Whatsapp without thinking about it at all, but a podcast app is a hurdle they don't want to deal with. Even more bizarre because until very recently it was always like that, for the entire history of podcasts. It's a shame too because podcast apps are so intuitive these days. Listening to podcasts on Spotify feels clunky by comparison.

To each their own I guess, but I personally just don't understand it.

[–] Baku@aussie.zone 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I briefly listened to podcasts on Spotify til I realised they inserted ads despite me being a paying member. I don't really listen to podcasts at all anymore, but when I do I usually listen to YouTube ones since adblock + sponsorblock = zero ads and interruptions

[–] Lemonparty@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago

Makes a lot more sense. I don't listen to very many but when I do I use an app that isn't Spotify. I don't mind fast forwarding the commercials in the app. I have no desire to have Spotify try and algorithm my podcast tastes, especially not on top of injecting extra ads into them