(2019-02-08) In A Hot Week For Audio Paid Newsletterer Substack Introduces A Way For Podcasters To Earn Money

In a hot week for audio, paid newsletterer Substack introduces a way for podcasters to earn money. In another snippet of podcast news this week — wait, you didn’t see the three pieces about the Spotify/Gimlet/Anchor news? — Substack, the all-in-one independent (paid) newsletter provider, is now offering support for subscriber-only audio, too

“We wanted to build through the core strength of Substack. You’re not paying for stuff or a product; you’re paying for a relationship with a writer, maybe now a podcaster, you really trust,” Hamish McKenzie, the company’s cofounder, said.

The company, which went through Y Combinator, takes a 10 percent cut of the paid tier and has also raised $2 million since its founding in 2017.

Substack pitches its creators on owning the full relationship between them and the reader/listener/subscriber/absorber. (“Every journalist should own a mailing list. It’s the best possible insurance against the volatility of the media business and social media,” McKenzie tweeted the week of the BuzzFeed bloodletting.)