Audible, an Amazon company, today distributes its exclusive audio content in its own plan with a cheaper subscription that does not include access to audiobooks outside its catalog. Audible Plus, for $ 7.95 per month, is the company’s cheapest plan, allowing subscribers access to Audible’s collection of exclusive audio content, including podcasts. Essentially, they will not receive credit for purchasing audiobooks or content outside of that catalog.
In the coming weeks, Audible plans to launch more new, exclusive content, including a podcast featuring Pushkin Industries, author Malcom Gladwell’s podcast company, and the NBA on the ongoing impact of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, as well as multiple audio stories starring celebrities such as Alicia Silverstone, Michael Caine, and Josh Gad. The company says it has more than 68,000 hours of content in its catalog, including more than 11,000 works. It’s unclear how much of this catalog is from third parties versus exclusive content.
In addition to its new plan, Audible is consolidating its Audible Gold and Platinum plans into something called Audible Premium Plus. For $ 14.95 per month, subscribers will have access to the full Audible catalog, as well as Plus subscribers, but they will also receive one credit to use for any content in the Audible library, regardless of price or length. (Platinum users who previously received two credits per month will receive two more at the price of $ 22.95 per month.) The plans are currently considered a “preview” phase with the idea that feedback will be considered for the official launch. Existing subscribers can access the Audible Plus catalog today, and new customers who want to visit Audible Plus can sign up on August 27th.
The entire experience is ad-free for now, including the podcasts it brings from third-party providers. This week will feature Audible Wondery podcasts, as well Business Wars, in his catalog. Ad slots will be stripped of the Audible show.
What Audible considers to be a podcast versus an Audible Original, says Rachel Ghiazza, head of American content, that the originals focus more on a narrative beginning, middle and end. The platform develops podcast content but does not draw it from third-party RSS feeds.
Audible Plus is really about “curation”, she says and getting people with audio content with many options available. But apparently Audible is focusing more on its broader audio offering instead of what is best known for: audiobooks. Audible may not have to pay royalties when people come for their own exclusive content, which cuts down on costs. This reflects Spotify’s strategy of pushing its listeners to podcasts instead of music. With music, Spotify artists have to pay every time someone listens to a song – the same way Audible pays authors every time someone pays an Audible credit for a book. Forwarding listers to exclusive ownership of audio content translates only to revenue. In the case of Spotify, it also includes ads in its podcasts for both premium and free users, doubling revenue. It is possible that Audible may eventually also warm up to advertising.
Also intriguing about this launch is Audible’s decision to only work with podcast companies with which it has previously made deals. Unlike Luminary, which was launched with scrappy RSS feeds, Audible sets itself up as an ally of podcast companies – not a platform that seeks to build its catalog and load customers for free programming. Audible faces serious competition in the audio space, but Ghiazza thinks the exclusive content of the service makes it worth subscribing to.
“What makes us distinctive or different is really our focus on expertly curated content, and then also that high quality and that bar of told story bundles – that game with a beginning, middle and end,” she says.
Eventually, the war of the audio platform comes down to exclusives with big names, as well as big enough catalogs to challenge the more expensive, original shows. (Spotify costs $ 9.99 for a monthly plan, while Luminary costs only $ 4.99.) Still, Amazon has significant money to make its push for audio, so we’ll probably see more celebrities tune in to Audible.
Correction 8/24, 12:43 PM ET: This piece originally stated that Platinum subscribers could get two credits for $ 14.95, but that’s wrong. They can get two for $ 22.95. We regret the mistake.
