Amazon is still getting podcast deals in hopes of claiming an edge over rivals like Apple and Spotify. the internet company closed a deal with NPR to broadcast the popular how i built this podcast a week earlier on Amazon Music and Wondery. As with previous offers, episodes will stream ad-free if you have subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited or Wondery+.
Wondery will also own the rights to YouTube-based video simulcasts as well as ad sales. NPR will still control radio releases, which will continue as usual.
The strategy is familiar – ideally, fans of the business-focused podcast will switch to Amazon platforms to listen as quickly as possible, and ideally, they will turn into paying subscribers. The approach is less aggressive than Spotify’s emphasis on completely exclusive podcasts, but it could give Amazon an edge over Apple and others that rarely or never do special deals.
For NPR, this also represents the latest phase in a recent podcast push that includes subscriber-only perks. The public broadcaster is eager to increase its funding for online content, and pacts like Amazon’s could play a big part in that growth.
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