Do podcasts still need their own websites?

Most podcast discovery and listening now happens inside Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and other platforms. That raises a question: does a podcast still need its own website?

My view is that a website gives creators control over their brand, search visibility, audience relationships, transcripts, guest pages, email capture, and content that listening apps cannot support very well.

We’re building PodView around that idea, but I’d love to hear the counterargument too.

As a listener or creator, when is a dedicated podcast website genuinely useful, and when is it unnecessary?