Spotify Expands Open Access API, Unlocking Exclusive Podcast Content for Users carsnewstoday.com Spotify is taking a significant step forward in its podcasting platform by broadening its Open Access API. This move enables users to access more of their favorite creators' premium podcast episodes directly within the app. With this new feature, dubbed Synched Feeds, creators can now showcase both their free and premium content on Spotify. This integration is already live with esteemed publications like The New York Times and The Economist, as well as platforms for premium content such as Substack and Patreon. In the past, creators would often post a teaser of a premium episode with a link to their content elsewhere. Now, premium episodes will appear within the creator's feed on Spotify, complete with the option to subscribe and listen to it. To participate, creators must utilize Spotify's Open Access API to facilitate distribution on Spotify from another platform. Then, listeners link their premium account from the other platform to their Spotify account, unlocking the premium content. Notably, Spotify does not take a commission on creator revenue from subscribers. Spotify launched Open Access last year as a response to its ban on manual RSS content uploads. According to TechCrunch, it's the only major podcasting platform that doesn't allow manual uploads, which is how users access premium episodes on other platforms. Initially, Open Access was only integrated with Patreon, Memberful, Supercast, and Supporting Cast. Since launching Spotify Open Access with Patreon last year, nearly half of podcasters earning revenue on Patreon have taken advantage of it. Those same creators saw 15 percent of their Spotify listeners who visited their Patreon sign up for a paid membership.