Spotify has launched a paid subscription service for podcasters.
Through its podcast firm Anchor, the platform will let creators set episodes as "subscriber-only" when publishing them to Spotify and other sites, which follows a similar move made by Apple earlier this month.
In a blog post, the company said: "By enabling wide distribution of subscriber-only content, our aim is to help podcasters maximise their subscription audiences and grow them from their existing listener bases.
"Within Spotify, this content will be searchable and discoverable like any other podcast episode."
Spotify also noted the programme - which has launched in the US and is coming "internationally in the coming months" - will be free for creators until 2023.
They added: "For the next two years, this program will come at no cost to the creator, meaning that participating creators receive 100% of their subscriber revenues (excluding payment transaction fees).
"Starting in 2023, we plan to introduce a competitive 5% fee for access to this tool."
Meanwhile, the subscriber-only content will also be "fully searchable and discoverable" for users within the Spotify app.
The company continued; "[The content will] even show up within a show’s main feed—shows will be marked with a lock icon on the play button.
"Listeners will be able to tune in knowing that their subscriptions are going directly to the podcasters they love, giving independent creators a revenue stream on their own terms."
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