Amazon Music Launches Synchronized Podcast Transcripts in U.S. for Originals and Popular Shows

Amazon Music announced today the launch of synchronized podcast transcripts in the U.S. for recent episodes of select Amazon Original and Wondery podcasts like SmartLess, Dr. Death, and Uncommon Ground With Van Jones, plus popular hit shows My Favorite Murder, Crime Junkie, Modern Love, This American Life, and much more. Podcast transcripts start rolling out for customers in the U.S. today in the latest version of the Amazon Music app on iOS and Android.

Similar to the popular lyrics feature introduced by Amazon Music in 2013, this brand-new feature allows listeners to experience podcasts in a whole new way. Amazon Music is the first music service to offer synchronized podcast transcripts, allowing customers to follow along or seek ahead in an episode, similar to thumbnail previews when scrubbing videos. While listening, customers can navigate an episode by scrolling through the transcript to find a specific spot, and tap to jump right to it. Playback will resume at the specific sentence they tap on in the transcription, making it easy for listeners to navigate to the part of the podcast they are most interested in. Listeners can also jump forward and backward while viewing the transcript to find a segment they have missed, or look ahead to quickly know what an episode is about—making navigation easier than ever.

“At Amazon, we always start with the customer experience and work backwards from there. We are leading the industry by introducing synchronized podcast transcripts for customers, to make it easier than ever for listeners to follow along with their favorite podcasts on Amazon Music,” said Amazon Music’s Director of Podcasts, Kintan Brahmbhatt. “With synchronized transcripts, we are changing the way listeners experience podcasts by making it effortless and simple for everyone.”

Transcripts will also be available for select shows from American Public Media, audiochuck, Cadence13, The New York Times, Stitcher, and TED.

Since Amazon Music launched podcasts in 2020, it has become a premier destination for podcast listeners and creators. Amazon Music customers can stream millions of podcast episodes at no cost in the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Popular Amazon Original podcasts include Uncommon Ground hosted by media personality and social entrepreneur Van Jones, The Thom & Hawk Football Show with NFL veterans Andrew Hawkins and Joe Thomas, Set It Straight hosted by country music band Midland, 9/12 from creator Dan Taberski, Jake Brennan’s Disgraceland and Badlands, That Scene with Dan Patrick, and EnLa Sala, which returns later this year with a second season hosted by singer/actress Evaluna Montaner.