Audible Unveils Short Form Audio Streaming Service

[AnemicOak]

Audible Unveils Short Form Audio Streaming Service

In a move that further expands Audible Inc.’s reach beyond the audiobook market, the Amazon subsidiary has unveiled an on-demand, unlimited listening service called Channels. The ad-free service, which is free to Audible subscribers (and was rolled out to some members in beta this spring), features curated short-form audio. Non-subscribers can access the content for $4.95 a month.

Channels listeners will find a consistently updated roster of original programming and exclusive content that includes comedy, episodic programs, lectures, and narrated selections from newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post (owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos).

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...g-service.html

[tubemonkey]

Here's the thread and OP for the beta launch:

Audible Beta Launches New Service

Spoiler:

Welcome to our beta launch of Channels, everyone

Audible Channels

From our origins—harking back to the time when Audible commercialized the first digital audio player—we have believed the quality and character of daily life would be enhanced by little devices packed with the culture's most compelling and artfully performed spoken words.

Today, many millions of people like you continue to redefine the concept of reading by listening to Audible's audiobooks.

Now I'd like to invite you to explore a beta version of a new benefit of Audible membership—an unlimited short-form listening service we believe will become as popular and addictive as Audible's audiobook service—and I hope you'll let us know what you think of this work in progress.

Just open your Audible app for iOS and Android and tap on Channels to get an early look at an unlimited, on-demand service featuring a "best of" collection of news programs and compelling audio editions of magazine and newspaper articles, comedy shorts, lectures, short fiction and nonfiction, and other quality entertainment, information, and educational programming you won't find anywhere else. Trailblazing original programming is also in the works, and this exciting lineup—much of it voiced by the culture's most gifted creators—will elevate Audible Channels going forward.

As we test and work to improve this new listening experience, we welcome your feedback and ideas.

Please let us know what you like, and don't like, at channelsfeedback@audible.com.

And thanks for listening. Don Katz - Founder and CEO