What you need to know
- Amazon Music will now be able to stream podcasts for no additional cost.
- The service will be coming to the U.S, UK, Germany, and Japan.
- Aside from an influx of popular content, Amazon will also be hosting original content from big names like DJ Khaled and Becky G.
Confirming reports from last month, Amazon today announced that it was rolling out podcasts support to its Amazon Music service. Just like Spotify does, you'll be able to access podcasts across all tiers pf service without paying extra, and they'll work in all the regular places where you can use Amazon Music including iOS, Android, Echo, and the web app
Amazon is launching with a slate of popular shows such as Prime Junkie, What A Day, Radiolab, Revisionist History, Planet Money, Ear Hustle, Why Won't You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, and Stuff You Should Know. Aside from those already known quantities, Amazon is striving to differentiate itself with original content like it does with Prime Video. It has tapped the star power of big names like Dj Khaled, Dan Patrick, Becky G, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith to bring in original content. There'll be a lot of variety being produced here, offering content ranging from interviews with musicians to a discussion of issues facing the Latinx communities.
Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music, said:
Our customers' listening habits are constantly evolving, and we know they're looking to us to provide them with a rich experience rooted in music and entertainment. With this launch, we're bringing customers even more forms of entertainment to enjoy, while enabling creators to reach new audiences globally, just as we've done with music streaming. Podcasts, paired with our recent partnership with Twitch to bring live streaming into the app, makes Amazon Music a premiere destination for creators.
Amazon's podcasts launch was almost derailed by controversy when the company was revealed to have a non-disparagement clause included in contracts. As per The Desk, it's now walked that clause back, and the service's terms for creators are now Amazon's standard terms.
Podcasts will be made available to the U.S., UK, Germany, and Japan.
