Charlie Harding, the podcast host Pop On, I noticed something strange when he searched for the name of his podcast on Amazon yesterday: a price tag. A price of $ 8.95, to be exact, marked as a “limited deal” with the suggestion to purchase an Audible subscription to get a discount.
Harding’s program, which details the creation and meaning of popular music, is now available for free in all podcast applications via RSS feed. It also recently became available for free on Audible, which is owned by Amazon, when podcasts were added to its app in October. But for some reason, Amazon started advertising the program as paid content. Even more strangely, the Audible promotion really came at a price walking, marking the program as originally costing $ 0 and being marked up to $ 8.95.
The same happened with other podcasts available on Audible as well. Everyone we checked, including The Vergeown Vergecast, which is distributed free via RSS, were listed as costing $ 8.95 and promoting an Audible membership agreement. These results only appeared on the Amazon website, not on the mobile app, and only if you were signed in to an Amazon account during the search. If you click on the podcast, you can select where you want to listen, Amazon Music or Audible, and you can listen for free without a subscription.
The price disappeared on Wednesday morning after The Verge he held out his hand for comment. Amazon has not yet responded.
It is not clear why Amazon marked the programs as costing $ 8.95, as none of Audible’s subscription levels come at that price. Its lowest level, launched in August, costs $ 7.95 to access these free programs, in addition to exclusive programming from Audible and audiobooks. The price rises to $ 14.95 for a subscription that includes audiobook credits. This seems more than likely to be a bug, as program prices have increased rather than decreased as part of this “limited deal”, but still, it’s not a great look for Amazon, which recently started focusing on podcasts.
The addition of podcasts is part of Audible’s most recent effort to sell subscriptions. The programs available for free add value to an expensive subscription and increase your catalog, which can motivate people to pay every month for access. It is worth remembering, however, that most podcasts are available for free via RSS, not when you pay Audible.