Podcasting, You’re All Grown Up

Seems like just yesterday we were watching an infant podcasting industry fiddling around on its training mics. Now, it’s getting a buzzy paid subscription model courtesy of Luminary, a startup that launches its service today. They grow up at 2x speed .

Luminary, flush with $100 million in funding, wants to sell you an $8/month subscription to deliver exclusive podcasts (aka they can’t be found anywhere else). It’s planning to eventually roll out more than 40 ad-free shows, which include the sonorous tones of Guy Raz (of How I Built This fame), Lena Dunham, Trevor Noah, and other future first-ballot Podcasting Hall of Famers.

There’s plenty of skepticism:

• While ads on podcasts are annoying, it might be hard to convince listeners to pay for content they’re used to enjoying for free.
• Luminary also has a free service, but that lacks popular podcasts including the NYT’s The Daily and shows from Gimlet Media, owned by Spotify.

Ask the audience: Are you a bear or a bull on Luminary? Vote here and we’ll share the results tomorrow.