Who wants to pay for podcasts? Thought so… Well, Amazon thinks people will have no issues whatsoever paying for short-form audio shows so it’s introducing a new Channels thing through its Audible service, which hosts the largest selection of digital audiobooks on the web.
According to Bloomberg, Channels will host premium shows like Scientific American, The Onion and the WSJ, plus a bunch of own originals like Mortal City, Presidents Are People Too and Breasts Unbound.
Who wants to pay for podcasts?
More than forty other shows are currently in production, noted Bloomberg.
“Audible is betting that avid podcast fans will pay $4.95 per month for Channels, an exclusive selection of ad-free original podcasts, comedy performances, and audio renditions of written articles,” reads the story.
Rather than use a dedicate app of its own, Channels can be listened to using Amazon’s mobile Audible app for iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Channels is free for subscribers to Audible’s $14.95 per month service and available standalone in exchange for $4.95 per month.
Audible slams Apple
Audible didn’t mince words criticizing Apple’s approach to podcasts.
“I’ve heard customers refer to podcasting as a flea market, where you’ll find some treasures, and it’s surrounded by a lot of junk,” said Eric Nuzum, senior vice president for original content development at Audible. “You have to be in the mood to sort through the junk to find the treasure, and people don’t want to do that all the time.”
Apple won’t sell podcasts
The majority of podcasts are being distributed via iTunes, which added a dedicated Podcast section back in 2005. Some podcasts producers are unhappy with Apple’s policy and the fact that the firm won’t add features that would permit podcast producers to sell podcast downloads and subscriptions rather than monetize them with ads.
Spotify and Google’s Play store added their respective Podcast section earlier this year.
Amazon doubling down on media services
Amazon is betting big on its subscription services.
Recently, it’s made the Video service available independently of a $99 per year Prime subscription and is rumored to be entering competition with Spotify and Apple Music by launching a subscription-music service of its own later in the year.
Source: Bloomberg