Can't activate paid podcast

[Centaur1]

Plan

Premium

Country: USA

Device: Browser, Pixel 3a, desktop app

Operating System

Android, Linux

My Question or Issue

I just listened to a podcast teaser episode in the Spotify app and decided to subscribe.  I couldn't find a subscribe button in the app so I went to the podcast's page and subscribed there.  I want to listen to it in Spotify, but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that.  Is there a way, or is Spotify just advertising for content they don't actually provide?

Where is the unlock / subscribe / whatever button???

[Eni]

Hey there @Centaur1, 

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

We checked and this podcast show doesn't seem to be behind a paywall, despite it saying that a subscription is needed in the description. Keep in mind that the description of a podcast is up to each creator, and maybe this was indeed available for a subscription through Spotify before and now it isn't, as the creator can also change this at will.

Since you subscribed to this podcast directly on their page and not through Spotify, we're afraid you won't be able to listen to the paid content on Spotify - you should be able to do so from the podcast's page. 

If you need a hand with anything else, just let us know. 

[Centaur1]

Hi @Eni,

Thanks for getting back to me.  I'm disappointed that I will have to use the podcaster's web page to listen to full episodes, since Spotify is much more convenient for me.

What they have published in Spotify is only the first 9 minutes or so of each episode.  It would be nice if they (or you) put a disclaimer in the descriptions to let us know that even after paying, the full episodes won't be available through Spotify.  The current state of things is misleading.

[Centaur1]

Also, I feel I should add: I would have subscribed through Spotify if there had been a way to do so.  There is no button, link, or anything else I could see to do it.  So I went to the podcaster's website, expecting there would be instructions to unlock full episodes on Spotify after I subscribed.  I didn't find any such thing.

[Alex]

Hey @Centaur1,

Thanks for the reply.

The podcast creators can decide what platform they'd like to use to stream their full-length content and accept subscriptions. Since the podcast The Randi Rhodes Show is not uploaded behind a paywall on Spotify we can't guarantee that the podcaster would upload their full-length episodes or any extra content on the platform. We recommend you reach out to the podcasters themselves regarding this. By the looks of it, the 9 min podcast episodes are uploaded on Spotify in the form of promotional teasers. They can be accessed with both free and Premium accounts.

This is how a paid podcast would look on Spotify.

If you do decide to subscribe to any paid podcast through Spotify in the future you should receive access to the podcast's paid content on Spotify, along with a RSS link to any external platform the podcaster uses to upload content. 

Hope this clears things up.