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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."
Not necessarily. Most of the podcasts I listen to, the people know very well what they are talking about. BBC, CBC, TVO, NPR. If you get your podcasts from good sources, they will have good content. There is nothing specific about a podcast that requires it to be of inferior quality.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
You are wrong.
There are plenty of good podcasts (I prefer netcast actually) where the people definitely know what they are talking about. Pretty much any NPR or TWIT netcast is worth listening to, imo.
If you want a specific example, try listening to Security Now some time.
Anyway, to the point of the article, skipping a couple of minutes of "commercials" (hit the FF button 2 times) is totally worth the price of the netcast ($0)
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
$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.
So what? 90% of everything is crap.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
If you liked Art Bell, there are a bunch of really great podcasts that would scratch that same itch. Conspiracies, paranormal stuff, UFOs, all that spooky shit. I got into a habit of putting Art Bell on very softly in my earbuds when I fell asleep. It would lead to some very fun dreams of holes to Hell and greys carrying me out of the house. I even bought a C.Crane radio, just because I'd heard the ad so many times (still have it, and it's a hell of a radio).
Podcasts you might like are The Higherside Chats (THC). Grimerica (out of Canada), Mysterious Universe (out of Australia) and Binall of America (which seems to be on some sort of hiatus). I'm even a subscriber to a couple so I don't get any advertisements, which is nice.
You know those videos of girls talking softly and brushing their hair and some people find it strangely soothing? Spooky podcasts are like that for me. Last night I fell asleep listening to a THC podcast about the history of central banking and how it comes from Knights Templar and where the idea of fractional reserves got started by goldsmiths in Europe. The night before that, it was the Oak Island mystery and mound-building civilizations in America.
The stuff can get kind of kookie, but it sure is fun and puts me right to sleep. Worth every penny.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Where were you 13 years ago when podcasts became popoular? (You know, named after the ubiquitous iPod, which only played audio at the time)/ The fight's been lost and everyone calls it podcasts.
And to be more accurate, they're really more like on-demand radio shows, which can be well produced or crap. You'll find those that have a history of broadcasting on the radio are generally of very high quality. But instead of streaming it, you download it as a file.
And Apple's been down this path - earlier this year some podcasters called out Apple to update the podcast app and allow stuff like paid subscriptions and stuff...