The service, though, is 'convenient access to the data [which is already out there]'. And once I've used it, I don't need it 100/sec just because that's how frequently people are using my downstream service to do something with some popular 'trending' podcast; I'm perfectly happy (and it would be a good practice to be!) caching it for some period, until I need the service again to conveniently see if the data that's already out there has changed.
> The service, though, is 'convenient access to the data [which is already out there]'.
The service is whatever is described in the contract you agree to when you purchase it.
If you don't like the terms of the contract, you can always try to negotiate an alternate agreement. Or you can choose not to purchase the service.
The seller isn't obligated to provide their services on your terms, just as you're not obligated to purchase the seller's services on their terms if you don't agree to them.
A single snapshot of an ever-changing database is the culmination of potentially years of research and payroll and system development that API consumers precisely didn't and don't want to do, that's what gives the dataset and thus API value.
The price that captures that value would have to be much higher in the model where you only need to access the database at some interval (let's say weekly), and that's not necessarily any more palatable.
