Apple News+ is still one of Apple’s services you can sign up for, and it sounds like Apple is looking to add a new feature to maybe draw more customers into the fold.
According to Digiday, Apple is planning to record audio of news stories and pack them into the Apple News+ package. The publication spoke with four different publishers regarding the plans, saying that they have all heard the offer from Apple. The offer includes Apple’s compensation for being able to record audio of the news stories, while also covering production costs as well.
That compensation would be the same as it is for standard news stories: 50 percent of subscriber revenue to the publisher(s) based on just how much time users spend with a publisher’s content over the course of 30 days. And this remains one of the biggest sticking points for Apple News+ and publishers. The report indicates that at least one publisher made it clear they only make $20,000 per month from Apple News+ based on the current revenue model, and they are less-than-pleased with that result.
Intellectual property concerns may hold things back a bit, though. The report indicates that Apple’s initial goal was to be able to record any news story it wanted. However, publishers are apparently counter-offering their own works, which would initially limit the available audio news stories.
As of right now, it’s unknown when –or even if– the planned audio news stories will see the light of day in News+.
Creating audio content like this appears to be in high demand, so the idea that Apple is looking to jump on the bandwagon is not surprising at face value. And let’s not forget that Apple has been eyeballing its own exclusive audio content, in the form of original podcasts, for quite some time now. Recording audio for news stories, and packaging them in News+ makes sense. But the question is, will it be enough to get people to sign up for the news service?
What do you think? If you don’t already use Apple News+, would you be willing to sign up to hear the news instead of reading it? Let us know in the comments!