Do people really use Spotify for podcasts? I don't find it a great experience. Pocket Casts seems to be solid as a free app along with other alternatives (including open-source).
Seriously. I have the Spotify app installed just to listen to his occasional podcast. It’s inspired me to start writing a self hosted app that will archive all your podcasts locally so next time a podcaster decides to sell out I won’t lost their back catalog. And then I also have a place to stream their newer stuff that I figure out a way to pirate.
The podcast market is in an extremely precarious state due to giant corporations like I heart media and spotify trying to insert themselves into the market, implement Chokepoints with exclusive content, and finally extinguish open alternatives.
Spotify is 10 a month for a normal subscription, so Pocket Casts is roughly a third of that for one year.
I don't like Spotify for podcasts at all but it is a big part of the service nowadays.
Still awfully expensive for Pocket Casts when you consider that it is just for podcasts and no music - unlike Spotify.