Can we think of Apple's podcasting ecosystem as similar to paterons? Or can we assume that Apple is looking to wall the garden in, locking everyone to their context, to extract maximum rents because users can't leave. There is some history there.
Re:Apple Podcasts Subscriptions
by ryanbrunner on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @11:51AM
(#26891259)
Patreon is relatively hands off with content though. They do absolutely own the financial relationship with your customers, but their podcast support is still just an RSS feed that can be played anywhere that supports adding by feed.
> once a middleman controls their revenue, ability to distribute
Patreon already is their middleman that controls their revenue and ability to distribute premium content.