Hey there, wanted to update you really quickly on a small change that's happening in Apple podcast here in the next few weeks, they're going to be no longer using the word subscribe. The new wording will be in the iOS fourteen point five update, which is scheduled to be released a little bit later this month of March. Listeners are going to be encouraged to follow, quote unquote, their favorite podcast. Instead, Apple, as usual, with any changes they make.
An Apple podcast will probably communicate that with us, with creators and listeners. When this version of iOS is released, it may seem like a small change initially, but it could dramatically affect the podcast industry. There's a quote from Tom Webster from Edison Research that says that 40 percent, 47 percent of people who don't currently listen to podcasts think that subscribing to a podcast actually costs money.
So this could be a big game changer, knowing that Apple holds most of the listenership, at least here in the United States. Other larger podcast apps have already changed. Spotify inaudible use the term follow SICHER uses, plus follow Amazon music uses the icon heart follow. Meanwhile, Google podcasts, Kasprzak and cast box excuse me use plus subscribe and overcast and Castro still uses the word subscribe. Those to podcast platforms I'm sure will change very quickly too.
That's not very a heavy lift for them. You know, for 15 years, the term the action to subscribe has been confusing potential listeners. I get those questions still a lot today because they're afraid of making the click, thinking there's going to be some kind of charge. But that was the action we needed to encourage listeners to understand how to follow our podcasts and Apple podcast. Hopefully every podcast app is going to start to copy Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and Amazon by using follow.
And it's time for every podcast to follow their lead as well. To what I'm suggesting is as time goes on to edit any written reference using the term subscribe and blogs, show notes and ET, I would not change any audio. That's a heavy lift. I think just utilizing that that that space that you've written and change over time to to follow rather than subscribe and then moving forward as of this month, March twenty twenty one, use only the term follow with any reference to any podcast app.
You getting questions obviously. Give me a call, an email podcasts at Circle270Media Dotcom.