When Amazon announced the addition of 100 million songs to the audio content that comes free with Amazon Prime membershipit was no surprise that podcasts were part of the expanded offering.
And the offer of podcasts on Amazon comes with the added value that they can be listened to without advertising.
The company beefed up its podcast capabilities in late 2020 with the acquisition of Wondery, notable podcast producers including “Dr. Death” and “Dirty John”. Wondery is now a key component of the effort to make audio a bigger part of the Prime experience, according to Wondery’s CEO, Jen Sargent.
“Previously, we hadn’t really turned on a strong audio benefit for Prime members, hadn’t made it a priority to let them know about it and build on some of the things that we were already offering through Amazon’s music service.” said on the latest episode of the podcast Variety “Strictly Business”. “So this was an opportunity to add more value to our customers.”
Sargent explained the details of how podcasts powered by Wondery will be front and center in Prime in the future. “In my opinion, you know, podcasts are for everyone,” she said. “And there is very little friction for consumers from a technical perspective to download and enjoy podcasts. So it seems like a natural place and extension Amazon would go to given its already strong footprint in music podcasts and audiobooks.”
This decision is a direct blow to the competitors in the streaming market, especially to spotify, which has been moving into the podcast market as a means of generating additional income.
But Spotify’s paying subscriber base is increasingly frustrated that they still have to listen to podcast ads, despite paying for the service. Amazon’s promise of ad-free podcasts coupled with a full music catalog could be a compelling alternative.
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Amazon Prime will offer podcasts without ads – Music Industry