Amazon Spent $13 Billion on Film, TV and Music Content in 2021, up 18%

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAmazon’s costs for video and music content last year hit $13 billion, up around 18%, representing a slowdown from its spending binge in 2020.The ecommerce giant disclosed total video and music expense for 2021 in its annual SEC filing Friday.

That total is compared with $11 billion the year prior, which was up roughly 40% versus 2019.On Thursday, Amazon announced a rate hike for its Prime membership program in the U.S., which is rising from $119 to $139 per year (up 17%), citing its stepped-up investment in “high-quality digital entertainment,” including TV and movies.

Overall for Q4, Amazon missed Wall Street estimates on revenue but blew past earnings forecasts.Amazon’s total video and music expense includes licensing and production costs associated with content offered on Prime Videos, and costs associated with digital subscriptions and sold or rented content. Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.“We obtain video content, inclusive of episodic television and movies, and music content for customers through licensing agreements that have a wide range of licensing provisions including both fixed and variable payment schedules,” Amazon noted in the 10-K filing.Total capitalized costs of video (which the company said is primarily released content) and music were $10.7 billion as of the end of 2021 — up more than 50% from $6.8 billion a year earlier.

The weighted average remaining life of Amazon’s capitalized video content is 2.6 years.In May 2021, Amazon inked a deal to acquire MGM for $8.45 billion in cash, including the studio’s debt.