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Amazon Wants People to Pay for Podcasts (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a Bloomberg report: There are several hundred thousand podcasts available through Apple's podcast app, and all of them cost the same amount: nothing. Starting today, you can have access to a far smaller slate of podcasts for a few bucks a month over at Audible, the audio books service owned by Amazon. 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. The subscription is free for current Audible members. While Apple has always loomed large over podcasting, other big companies like Amazon, Google, and Spotify are beginning to inch into the space. Channels is Amazon's first major foray into the business and puts it in a position to be both a platform for and creator of new shows. "They are doing to audio what they did with Prime Video -- it's vertical integration, and it puts them in a position where they can firmly participate in the larger development of culture," said Nick Quah, who writes the podcasting newsletter Hot Pod.Is the right move? Will people for it? AdAge writes:A lot of people don't think there will be a Netflix of podcasting. Andy Bowers, chief content officer of Slate's Panoply Network, said the best chance for a subscription model to work would be to offer one that offers ad-free versions of many of the most popular podcasts that exist today. "Short of that -- and I don't see anyone doing that at the moment -- I think the ad-supported version is here to stay for a while," he said. Still, a handful of other podcasting businesses have begun experimenting with paid premium services. Acast, a podcast app, created an option for its podcasters to begin charging for content earlier this year. Midroll Media charges $4.99 a month for a service called Howl that offers access to original shows and archives of popular podcasts like "WTF with Marc Maron."
We don't even pay for books, records, movies and amazon series.
The only reason people listen to a podcast, is that it's free. Who in right mind would even pay for that, other than giving a donation or something.
Why can't we call these things what they are?
"Podcasts" are audio files of people talking about shit they don't know much about and that you only listen to because you're bored out of your mind.
"Vodcasts" are video files of people talking about shit they don't know much about and that you only listen to, and occasionally glance at (even though you should be focused on driving/working), because you're bored out of your mind.
but man listening to Art Bell on AM was awesome. What a kook but that was some good entertainment.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
I've heard several podcasts that I'd be willing to support, but I'm not sure that I would have payed to give them a shot originally. There is a lot of noise out there in the podcasting world compared to the signal. A paywall sounds like a great way to fail.
I for one will not pay for it since the challenge is the same as over the air radio, endorsements. The podcast owners need to figure that out.
$5 per month for this service, $5 per month for that service... pretty soon your monthly media bill looks like the overly expensive cable bill you cut the cord to get rid of.
Advertisements are not only annoying but they are actually more costly then you may think. The difference between Hulu Plus with ads vs Hulu Plan ad-free is $4. That's the best $4 I ever spent. If I make more then $12/hr then it is more cost-effective to go ad free.
So if they had a podcast that I really liked then I would buy it. I already donate more then $5/mo to pod casters anyway.
I would pay a small fee for podcasts, in some cases, not even for ad free versions, just to have a _complete_ feed of podcasts available.
Most podcasts have only a short feed (amount of podcasts currently available), even if they've been going on for years. Some others have long or even complete feeds (e.g. the "Giant Bombcast" video game podcast). If I find out about a new podcast, I'd like to be able to start at the beginning. EVEN if some of the info deals with (then-) current events, I'd still like to be the one to choose whether to listen to the 'old' ones or not.
As much as I hate ads, I usually listen to live reads in podcasts, partially because they're often so short they're hard to skip (at 2x).. and partially because they often make jokes and such (e.g. Adam Carolla) during the read. More "standard" commercial breaks, I still skip past.
But just the ability to have full feeds of these various podcasts (but still listenable in my current app, or at least in an app that will still let me play at 2x and keep track of which ones I've listened to), would be something for which I'd pay a couple bucks a month at most.
I have more podcasts than I can listen to, and most of them are free. I pay a subscription for an ad-free version of the Savage Lovecast, but that version also comes with extra content. I listen to the ads of the other shows and for the most part, it's actually stuff I want. I also listen to a lot of shows from the CBC, so I've kind of already paid for those.
I can't believe they can give me greater value than what I'm getting. Shows in my schedule, more plentiful than I can actually handle, and all of them finding their own way to monetise. The current hands-off system is one of the best things Apple has ever done. The only people that don't like it are advertisers that don't want to be cut out of any advertising loops. (Meanwhile, the cost per conversion that podcast advertisers pay is insanely cheap.)
If you want to get paid, at least learn how to write. Also, have something worthwhile to write, and I don't mean your opinion: I don't need yours, I already have mine.
I know that "Youtubers" make it seem like earning money with drivel is a thing now, but don't quit your day job.
I used to have time to listen to the dribble of podcasts but frankly unless they are 15 minutes of less in length they start to bore. Leo LaPorte was probably one of the biggest starters of podcasts. But I can't remember the last full cast I listen too. He even added video which I thought would be better, but no it's still kind of boring.
Amazon Wants People to Pay for Podcasts
The Onion called. They want their headline back.
No charges will be laid if returned within 48 hours.
I listen to Adventures in Design, a podcast (http://www.adventuresindesignmarket.com) that has an 45min episode every day, is generally of excellent quality, has great guests, and just hit 400 episodes. The podcaster, Mark Brickey, has a paywall separated area that he has reduced ad versions of the casts, another 30-60 minutes of frank talk and better 'secrets', and additional info, pics, and notes on the show. I happily pay 9.99 a month for this, and listen outside the Apple ecosystem, even though my business requires all apple hardware. TC
Apple doesn't allow you to sell a podcast, include additional stuff, or any of flexibility of many of the other services out there, and in response, the AID podcast is doing their own app, which will allow more control, and insure it sticks around longer with easier methods to pay.
If you design, screen print, illustrate, or have a business doing those things, the AID podcast is the best. Consistent, and every damn day. Check it out.
I'm a "producer" of the No Agenda Show. Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak often talk about the corrupting influence advertising has on modern media and so therefore can't really run ads and have any integrity. It's not always a great show, but it is good enough most of the time to get me through my long commute. They also actively engage listeners and have created a community around the show. They use custom artwork, contributed by listeners for every show. A lot of it is quite good, very professional looking artwork. They encourage you to share the program, and seed Bit torrent with it. The server space is contributed, as is maintenance/moderation of the IRC chat room and live stream. If you donate enough you get recognition during the episode if you like, and there are various rewards that you receive in return for supporting the show. And they occasionally have meet-ups (put together by listeners, not by Curry or Dvorak) where fellow "producers" get together. Other podcasts do some of the same things but for the most part they seem to just recreate the same old talk radio format, just with a cheaper distribution channel. And of course they are beholden to the sponsors, who can destroy a podcast with one phone call.
The traditional way of producing audio and video, along with expecting to pay for it through ad revenue, is dead except for sports and big blockbuster films. The expense of paying for board operators and production people backing up talent (and in the case of NPR and other traditional media outlets producers, editors and copywriters), isn't going to be sustainable when your download rates are measured in the hundreds of thousands and ad responses are under single digit percentages. Direct payment and community building around your production are what will drive media in the future. Sure, Curry's skill as a DJ and audio engineer comes in handy when producing since he can act as a board op and talent, but as audio production tools improve opportunities for novice podcasters will follow. What's really going to be difficult is video podcasting because we're still not able to produce a convincing virtual set, but with all that retail space opening up in the post-amazon retail world, maybe someone will figure that out too.
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
but /. forgot to mention the main Channels feature: tens of hours of free audio books and theater plays. There's actually very few podcast on there.