Amazon Thinks People Are Willing To Pay For Podcasts

boasts hundreds of thousands of podcasts through its podcast app and users have free access to all of them. On the other hand,

will charge users $4.95 a month for Channels, a new on-demand audio service which offers ad-free original podcasts, comedy performances and audio renditions of articles. According to

Channels marks Amazon's entrance into the fast growing and ultra-popular podcasting space. The company's unique positioning also allows it the opportunity 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," Bloomberg quoted Nick Quah, writer of the podcasting newsletter Hot Pod as saying. Channels will be operated by Amazon's Audible and will start off small but is expected to quickly expand. Of note, an eight-part scientific and cultural examination of human breasts will be featured on the platform. Amazon is hoping that its slimmer podcast platform will serve as a differentiating platform compared to what Apple has to offer. Audible's senior vice president for original content development, Eric Nuzum, told Bloomberg that the already existing podcast platforms are like a flea market where users can find "some treasures" hiding within "a lot of junk." "You have to be in the mood to sort through the junk to find the treasure, and people don't want to do that all the time," he said. Naturally, Amazon's nearly unlimited resources, and data drove of how people consume media could convince users that it is better to pay for a superior service than get an inferior one for free.