Amazon reportedly said it will launch podcasts as long as podcasters don't bad-mouth the company
- Amazon reportedly told multiple podcasters in an email that the company was considering launching podcasts on its Amazon Music and Audible services.
- However, the company told the producers that it will only give them a platform if they don't talk badly about Amazon.
- One podcaster who received the email tweeted about the "content restriction," writing that "signing up requires signing away your journalistic integrity."
Amazon reportedly communicated to multiple podcasters in an email its plans to launch podcasts on its Amazon Music and Audible streaming services, per a report from Billboard.
But one stipulation of the deal is that podcasters "may not include advertising or messages that disparage or are directed against Amazon or any Service."
As Pitchfork noted, one of the podcasters that Amazon emailed was Corey Quinn, the host of the AWS Morning Brief and Screaming in the Cloud podcasts. Quinn tweeted Monday night about the Amazon email, writing in part, "I'm a freaking entertainment podcast and I can't consent to that. How can any actual news podcast?!"
He also wrote "signing up requires signing away your journalistic integrity."
Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Rival streaming service Spotify has made strides into the podcasting world as of late, with a multi-year licensing deal with Joe Rogan and its acquisitions of The Ringer, Gimlet Media, and Anchor. The company also struck a deal with Kim Kardashian West for an exclusive podcast that will feature the celebrity and entrepreneur's work with the Innocence Project.
Both Apple and Google also offer podcasts as part of their streaming services.