While podcasts are mostly meant to be listened to (some while doing other things), there are also those that would like to read the content discussed in an episode as they listen to it. There are those that offer audio transcripts but now Amazon is bringing something better to the podcasts published on Amazon Music. Synchronized podcast transcripts are auto-generated text that come with the audio and can be used similar to how video chapters are in YouTube.
The feature synchronizes the audio and the auto-generated text with each other so listeners can not just read along while listening but also easily jump to a specific part of the podcast. The latter is for times when you can’t listen to an entire episode but you need to listen to a specific part that interests you or that you need. It works just like you would scrub through a video using thumbnail previews or the video chapters that YouTube recently introduced.
Amazon says the feature will let listeners jump to a specific point in the episode by scrolling through the transcript and tapping where they want to skip forward or go back to. The playback will resume in that specific sentence in the transcript that they tap on which should navigating through an episode much easier. And of course having something to read can be an option for those who prefer that than listening to an entire episode.
The synchronized podcast transcripts will not yet be available to all podcasts on Amazon Music. It will first show up on select Amazon Original and Wondery shows like SmartLess, Dr. Death, and Uncommon Ground With Van Jones as well as some shows from American Public Media, audiochuck, Cadence13, The New York Times, Stitcher, and TED. Hopefully they will be available to more shows in the future.
Podcasts on Amazon Music are available in the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, India, Australia, and New Zealand at no cost. While Spotify and Apple are the market leaders, those who want an alternative or those within the Amazon ecosystem have this as an option as well.
