Expanding Sowt+ Premium subscription service with Apple Podcasts

By Ramsey Tesdell

In May 2020 we announced the launch of our premium membership and subscription program called Sowt+. Since the launch, we’ve steadily grown our membership into a healthy and exciting community. At the beginning of 2021, we released a premium subscription audio article service, called Safahat Sowt or Sowt Pages. As a subscription only product, we strive to provide our listeners with the best audio content. 

Sowt is a leading producer of podcasts including Eib about gender and taboos, Dom Tak about everything behind the music hosted by Rana Daoud, Manbet all things history with Bisher Najjar, Matryoshka, about paranormal worlds produced by Tala Elissa, and our weekly deep dive news show Almostajad hosted by Mahmoud Khawaja. 

We’re excited to announce that Sowt’s premium content will be available through Apple Podcasts as a subscription. Subscribing to Sowt+ on Apple Podcasts, you will have access to ad free content of all of Sowt’s productions and exclusive and early releases. 

At launch you will get:

• Ad free and early access to our award winning and chart-topping show, EIB - Season 8
• Ad free access to Bulaq, a podcast about contemporary writing from and about the Middle East and North Africa by Ursula Lindsey and M Lynx Qualey 
• Ad free and early access to our new Arabic poetry podcast, Maqsouda, with Farah Chamma and Zeina Hashem Beck
• Access to Safahat Sowt, audio articles from a number of leading publishers including Harvard Business Review/Mjarra, Ma3azef, MadaMasr, 7iber and Al Jumhuriya
   

Following the launch, subscribers will gain early access to new seasons and new shows. In the coming few months, we’re releasing:

• A new season of Dom Tak, our highly acclaimed podcast about music hosted by Rana Daoud
• A second season of our new show Manbet, a history / explainer podcast that has grown into one of our tops shows
• A podcast that explores the world, featuring the adventures of Yemeni traveller Somaya Gamal 
• A Simplifying Science show with Salam Katanani, about science and our world 
• Stories of the most significant Arab poets told by the one and only Hisham Al Gakh

Sowt+ subscriptions will cost just 3.99 USD a month, and the introductory annual membership costs $29.99 per year. Annual memberships will increase to $39.99 per year in September. Sowt shows will continue to be free with ads on Apple Podcasts and other podcast platforms.

As a leading podcast company, we are always looking for ways to improve our content and as a business. The podcast frontier is changing quickly and we’re happy to be at the cutting edge of this change. Sowt is committed to providing high quality content to the largest number of users, but we also need to diversify revenue sources. For Sowt, an advertising model isn’t the most advantageous for us nor for our audience. As more subscription products are announced including Spotify, our focus will remain on producing the best, highest quality, premium content. 

ABOUT SOWT:

Sowt is a leading podcasting platform which produces and distributes high-quality content in Arabic, with the goal of creating an environment in which dialogue on and discussion of topics important and sensitive to the Arab listener around the world is the norm. 

 We are committed to producing audio content that is of the highest caliber. In addition to the aforementioned goal of creating content that discusses issues close to the Arab world, we also care deeply about using sound design to create a backdrop against which our listeners are able to consider and explore principles of equality, diversity, and human rights.