Amazon Acquires Art19
• Amazon is further increasing its footprint in the podcasting space with the acquisition of Oakland, CA-based Art19, which provides tools to podcast creators and publishers for hosting, ad serving, audience targeting and measurement, according to Variety.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon’s acquisition of Art19 comes on the heels of its recent acquisition of podcast network Wondery in a deal reportedly valued at $300 million. Art19 will be housed under Amazon Music, right next door to Wondery.
“We’re excited to announce that Art19 is joining Amazon Music,” Amazon said in a statement on its website. “Art19 is an innovative company that enables podcast creators to manage, distribute, analyze and monetize their work, and we’re thrilled to have them on the team. Together, we will be able to expand our offerings and even better serve your podcasting needs.”
No less thrilled, happy and excited about this alliance is the crew over at Art19, which posted this equally enthusiastic message on its home page, which reads, “We’re excited to announce we’re joining Amazon Music. Together, we look forward to empowering even more podcast creators with the solutions they need to engage listeners and monetize their work.”
As Variety reports, Over the past year, Amazon has upped its strategy to cash in on the podcast boom and keep pace with Spotify’s podcasting push. Last September, Amazon Music launched several million episodes of free podcasts, and the division also has a slate of original podcasts being produced exclusively for Amazon Music, including shows from DJ Khaled, Becky G, Will Smith and Dan Patrick. Launched in 2015, Art19 had raised $7.5 million from investors including Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) and DCM Ventures, according to Crunchbase.
