There doesn't seem to be any verification of this from iTunes' end, but the development is implied in a press release from new firm What I Want
Podcasting, which plans to sell podcasts through iTunes "in the very near future." The company will offer
live performance footage from the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival which takes place in late January 2006.
“We have developed exclusive video invitations from artists appearing at the festival and created a promotional
podcast concert series," the press release quotes What I Want president Martin Elmore. "We then distributed
it throughout the web, on iTunes, podcast directories, Google Video, and many more websites. ... We are going to offer
podcasts for sale on iTunes, which will feature clips of the concert this January 26-28.”
What I Want
Podcasting specializes in developing podcasts for commercial application.
iTunes to charge for podcasts?
Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Ethan, I don't think you have much to worry about.
Here's my take on it:
Considering they don't own the rights to most of the podcasts served, Apple can't just sell the podcasts without the author's consent.
I imagine they're just referring to the ability for iTunes to charge for podcasts, as you would for songs. That is, a given podcaster can choose to charge some nominal fee for what might be considered premium content (e.g., in this case, concert clips, but even one more well-established), with Apple of course taking a cut.
Most podcasters would probably lose a significant portion of their audience if they charge (the same way most blogs would lose readership), so they're probably not going to buy into this.
So either Apple continues to offer those for free or loses a lot of material from its podcast directory. I'm guessing it's going to be the former.
Posted at 2:37PM on Dec 29th 2005 by Tim Marman
3. Ethan, I don't think you have much to worry about.
Here's my take on it:
Considering they don't own the rights to most of the podcasts served, Apple can't just sell the podcasts without the author's consent.
I imagine they're just referring to the ability for iTunes to charge for podcasts, as you would for songs. That is, a given podcaster can choose to charge some nominal fee for what might be considered premium content (e.g., in this case, concert clips, but even one more well-established), with Apple of course taking a cut.
Most podcasters would probably lose a significant portion of their audience if they charge (the same way most blogs would lose readership), so they're probably not going to buy into this.
So either Apple continues to offer those for free or loses a lot of material from its podcast directory. I'm guessing it's going to be the former.
Posted at 2:37PM on Dec 29th 2005 by Tim Marman
1. I would like to know the details about podcast charges, if this news is true.
Posted at 7:49AM on Dec 29th 2005 by ethan