[tomsem]

I do not like this trend.

If I have a music streaming subscription, it is not 'better' if it includes audiobooks and podcasts. In fact it is just a distraction from what I signed up for. What have podcasts (or audiobooks) have in common with music? Only my ears.

Amazon Music also includes podcasts 'for free'. As does Audible.

Most podcasts (at least the only ones I will listen to) are already free. Even where some are exclusive to the service, I see it as watering down the service I signed up for. They save money because they are not paying royalties AFAICT.

Moreover the features that serve podcasts and audiobooks best are different than those for music. Better to have separate apps IMO.

I cancelled Audible recently. I don't have time for it and the app is full of recommendations and gets in the way of actually listening to things. Fortunately there is OpenAudible and I can use a more functional app.

I used to have long commutes to consume audiobooks and podcasts (with road noise, music wasn't really workable) but those are gone. And now I'd rather listen to music. I have been paring down my podcast subscriptions and skipping about 80 % of what I'm still downloading without a listen.