Spoken Editions is the latest offering from Apple, which makes news articles available in podcast format on iTunes. According to reports by TechCrunch and MacRumors, Apple is already working with major publishers like Forbes, Wired and TIME in preparation for the launch.
Early Testing of Spoken Editions
Links to audio content that formed part of Apple’s early tests of Spoken Editions on iTunes were quickly pulled out after TechCrunch approached them regarding the new addition to their service portfolio. The test content included podcasts from publishers such as Wired, and TechCrunch says that several other publishers including Playboy, Forbes and Bustle will also have their own Spoken Editions sections on iTunes.
For larger publications like Wired, it is thought that iTunes will have a separate section called Top Spoken Editions that will feature podcast content from various media houses. That also suggests a possible update to iTunes to give it the right kind of layout for presenting such content.
To help these companies convert massive amounts of content into audio format, a company called SpokenLayer has been engaged. This was discovered by TechCrunch within the podcast descriptions for the test Spoken Editions content. SpokenLayer may not have a direct relationship with Apple, but the 2012-founded company already provides audio conversion services to several big names like Reuters and HuffPost.
For Apple users, this will be a significant move because it will allow them to catch up on the latest news on audio instead of having to read it. We’re assuming that if it catches on, it will save users a tremendous amount of time. No more waiting to read the headlines at red lights (I suggest you stop doing that either way) or sneaking in a few minutes of reading time at work (yup, you better stop that, too.)
As a productivity enhancer Spoken Editions will face stiff competition from other podcast services such as SoundCloud, Podomatic and Archive.org, but the news angle should give it a fair amount of traction amongst Apple users.
You’ll need to keep in mind that Apple, like other majors like Microsoft and Amazon, is creating an ecosystem of devices and services that can keep their users within the scope of such services. More time spent on Apple’s own devices and services like Apple Music or iTunes or even Apple Maps means higher engagement and, ultimately, greater brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty is something vital to the success of tech companies today because the industry itself is so disruptive, and these ecosystems essentially increase the probability that the customer will eventually spend money with the company in one form or other. One of the best examples, possibly, is Amazon Prime, the membership-based services that offers practically everything a digital user needs, from free shipping to live sports video streaming to a large collection of music and much, much more. But what’s even more significant is the speed at which Amazon keeps adding to the goodies pile for Prime members.
Amazon recently made Audible Channels available to Prime users, they’re increasing the extent of streaming video to include live sporting events and even free two-hour deliveries of groceries and household items with their relatively new Prime Now offering.
Apple started building their ecosystem way back with the iOS and macOS operating systems, fostering a mobile and web app community that is the envy of every other tech company in the world. Microsoft is doing it as well with their new subscription-based strategy to offer rentals on everything from Surface devices to Office 365.
The convenience of these ecosystems means users aren’t likely to anywhere else, and this is where the monetization aspect plays out to the company’s favor.
Spoken Editions is merely a further expansion of Apple’s ecosystem, and could become a valuable contributor to that environment. That’s especially true if major publishers start getting into the fray and start pushing audio content on a regular basis.
But the biggest problem content publishers have with Apple is their lack of transparency about key metrics that publishers and advertisers typically use to chart out their budgets and content plans. In the recent Facebook fiasco where the company admitted to their video metrics being miscalculated for the past two years before they spotted it and fixed it, publishers as well as advertisers were understandably irate because these metrics are critical to their decisions, which, for large companies can run into billions of dollars in ad spending and content creation.
ALSO READ: Facebook Inflated Video Metric for Two Years, Apologizes to Partners
Apple’s stringent privacy policy means that valuable user data may not be made available to their clients, and this could be the deal-breaker in the Spoken Editions initiative. The audio podcasts will likely be interspersed with audio ads, and unless these companies are provided with robust metrics around average listen time, user demographics and so on, it stands to reason that they’re not going to be willing to spend truck loads of money converting their content into audio format just to put it on iTunes.
With that hovering ominously over Spoken Editions, we’ll just have to wait and see how the service performs after it is officially launched. Nobody is taking a shot at guessing at Apple’s timelines in this case, but we know that they need to move fast and move hard if they want this to be a success.
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