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Podcasts are now on Amazon Music, just like you wanted
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 17 September 2020
They’re the biggest thing in music right now. That’s right, podcasts. A music service is nothing without podcasts. I mean, when you’re not leeching off other people’s free content, your users might do something awful, like listen to some music and, in doing so, make you hand over some royalties to the music industry. So the good news is that – as expected – Amazon Music has officially confirmed that podcasts have arrived.
In an announcement, the Amazon streaming service trumpets that users in the UK, US, Germany and Japan can now listen to podcasts as well as music “at no additional cost”. Woo! They’re not charging to access stuff already available for free all over the internet. Hurrah!
“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”, says Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music.
“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”, he goes on. “Podcasts, paired with our recent partnership with Twitch to bring live streaming into the app, makes Amazon Music a premiere destination for creators”.
Amazon Music will also be putting up some exclusive podcasts, including a new show hosted by DJ Khaled called ‘The First One’, in which he’ll interview some of his favourite musicians.
“I’m recording my podcast with the greatest musicians of all time, and with some of my best friends who also happen to be the most iconic artists on the planet”, says DJ Khaled. “We’ll talk about fame, fortune, life and success. These stories are here to motivate you because everybody starts from somewhere, from the ordinary to extraordinary. Before you get to another one, you got to get to ‘The First One,’ only on Amazon Music”.
That’s nice that he’s come up with a little tagline for his podcast there. Even if it doesn’t really make any sense. Other podcasts coming exclusively to Amazon include existing show ‘Disgraceland’, which mixes true crime and music, and a show fronted by Becky G, called ‘En La Sala’, which will air in audio form on Amazon Music and video form on Twitch.
Having podcasts on Amazon Music, of course, means you can play them by shouting at whatever Alexa-enabled device you may have to hand.
“We’re THRILLED to offer customers a convenient podcast listening experience that fits their lifestyle”, says Kintan Brahmbhatt, Director Of Podcasts for Amazon Music. “Never before has listening to podcasts on the move, in the car, or at home been so simple. Our customers will be able to utilise the voice functionality they know and love with music to now enjoy a superior podcast experience and uncover a brand new selection of favourites”.
I think it’s quite a stretch to say that this makes it significantly easier to listen to podcasts, but feel free to ask Alexa to play the Setlist podcast to test this theory out.
