iTunes Podcasts
Summary
Podcast indexing and promotion platform serving Apple Podcasts apps on iOS and Mac, iTunes, and some third-party podcast apps.
Parent organisation: Apple
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: Free
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Parent organisation: Apple
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance
Pricing: Free
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Requires audience sign-in to use: Yes, sign-in compulsory
Pros
Releases new features regularly
Clear data policies
Has accessibility statement
Shares diversity data
Cons
Lack pricing transparency
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | iTunes Podcasts |
| Product URL | https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/ |
| Parent organisation | Apple |
| Workflow category | Publishing & distribution |
| Date product founded | 2005 |
| Product description | Podcast indexing and promotion platform serving Apple Podcasts apps on iOS and Mac, iTunes, and some third-party podcast apps. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Publicly-listed company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | Yes, profitable |
| How is this product funded? | Invested by parent company or group |
| What market share does the tool have? | Market dominance |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | No |
| When did the company last release new features? | November 2019: Hide shows waiting for approval |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | No |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | No |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | No / cannot find |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | N/A no pricing model listed |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Free |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | N/A |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Has proprietary file formats but offers open options |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Technical, legalistic TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | No GDPR policy information available |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | Yes, sign-in compulsory |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | Yes. Apple ID |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | No / cannot tell |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | No / cannot find |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | Yes |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | Yes |