Audible is currently in the process of hiring sound engineers, comedians and podcasters in a push to offer original content. They are doing this in a bid to offer original content, similar to HBO.
According to Bloomberg “Amazon is doing to Audible what it’s done to Prime Video — investing in original programming,” said Nick Quah, an executive at the Graham Holdings Co.’s Panoply podcast network who also writes a newsletter about the industry. “Amazon is hiring a ton of really good producers and managers out of public radio to acquire podcasts and develop shows of their own.”
Audible is currently recruiting 100 positions worldwide, including software engineers, user experience designers, marketers and lawyers to help negotiate licensing and distribution agreements.
I think offering original content will give existing Audible members a reason to stick around. Currently, if you sign up for the basic membership you only get access to a single audiobook title per month, and if you want more, you have to pay more. Original content will likely be bundled into the basic subscription tier, giving people access to more content that will not be found anywhere else.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
