Amazon is also expanding its podcast area with a major takeover

At Amazon too , they have now come to the conclusion that it would be a great enrichment for their own content offerings if they could provide a large, own podcast area. For this, Wondery has now been taken over.It is one of the largest independent podcast networks in the United States to date.

Under the umbrella of Wondery there are formats such as “Dirty John”, “Dr. Death”, “Business Wars” and “The Shrink Next Door”, which also have their fans in this country. These are to be made available in future under the Amazon Music service.

Amazon in talks to acquire podcasting company Wondery - 9to5Mac

Last fall, Amazon provided it with its own podcast section. The integration of Wondery should make the segment much more attractive in the future. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price, but US media estimate that Amazon transferred around $ 300 million.

Economically successful

The programs, which are often started as hobby projects, have long since become a livelihood, especially for the larger podcasters. Wondery is said to have had sales of over $ 40 million last year, with around 75 percent coming from advertising marketing. How the marketing models will now be continued under Amazon and whether the podcasts belonging to Wondery will continue to be free to receive is not entirely clear.

In any case, Amazon is trying to catch up with Spotify a bit with this step. The leading music streamer started pulling successful podcasts onto its platform some time ago. In addition, they also offer some exclusive productions in this area, which, strictly speaking, are no longer real podcasts. After all, the format is defined by the free availability via RSS subscription.

For the producers, the streaming platforms are a double-edged matter. They often invest a lot of time in the broadcasts and at some point come to a point where financing becomes an important question – and this is where the streaming services usually lose something. On the other hand, you also lose your independence and if the relationship with the respective platform operator deteriorates, saying goodbye is not so easy if you risk losing a large part of the audience.