Amazon’s Audible and Barack and Michelle Obama have signed a multi-year deal that will see the former President recording audiobooks for the company.
This comes after a largely inactive deal with Spotify that saw their production company, Higher Ground, create just two podcast series: The Michelle Obama Podcast and Renegades: Born in the USA, the latter of which was a series of conversations between Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen.
The Obamas were reportedly rankled by the months-long exclusivity windows that the Spotify deal had in place, locking the content to the Spotify service only.
“At Higher Ground, we have always sought to lift up voices that deserve to be heard — and Audible is invested in realising that vision alongside us,” said President Obama in a statement.
“I’m looking forward to partnering with them to tell stories that not only entertain but also inspire.”
Audible spokesperson Keri Dizney said of the deal that “Audible and Higher Ground plan to make the Audible Originals available to the widest possible audience”, suggesting their content may not be behind their premium programming paywall.
