February/March 2024 News Roundup
The February news roundup was put on hold to celebrate the Audie nominees and winners so we return with a full line-up of updates. Spotify and Apple were prominent in the news with disputes, growth and recovery. Read about the exciting growth, forums and events in the Spanish market. Celebrate Women’s History Month with recommendations by the Washington Post and be sure to read the delightful account of an author’s audiobook production journey from audition to awe. New growth at RB Media, Blackstone and Storytel were in the news. And the roundup wouldn’t be complete without suggestions for better listening as well as new developments in AI. But narrating 900 feet deep in an abandoned silver mine? That’s definitely out of the booth… I mean box!
The 2024 Audie Winners
The winners for this year's Audie Awards were announced on March 4, 2024 in Los Angeles. [Source: audiopub.org, People, The Hollywood Reporter, Access Hollywood, Kirkus Reviews, Billboard, Book Riot, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Publishing Perspectives, Shelf Awareness, Voice Over Xtra and Yahoo! Entertainment ]
Spotify Reports ‘Exponential’ Audiobook Growth
Months after launching its streaming audiobook service in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, Spotify reported that users have accessed roughly 90,000 titles, with Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me topping the list of most-listened-to books. [Source: publishersweekly.com]
Listening habits
How To Read More in 2024
Follow simple yet effective ways to squeeze more reading into your schedule. [Source: penguinrandomhouse.com]
Can We Please Put an End to Overperformed Audiobooks?
Maris Kreizman really doesn’t need to hear your version of a Cockney accent. [Source: lithub.com]
Can’t sleep? Try a boring audiobook
The art of picking the right pillow talk. [Source: spectator.co.uk]
FEED YOUR EARPODS
Erica Berry on the Polyamorous Intimacy of Reader, Author, and Audiobook Narrator
The narrator of a first-person book is not the author, she is a version of her, a core-sample of a life rolled out for a story. [Source: lithub.com]
Washington Post celebrates Women’s History Month with new audiobook releases
The Washington Post celebrates Women’s History Month with; A History of Women in 101 Objects, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and Kristin Hannah’s The Women. [Source: washingtonpost.com]
The business of audiobooks
Apple Fined $2 Billion as Europe Sides With Spotify
For years, the two companies have been at war as the streaming service lured users away from Apple’s iTunes and accused the tech giant of exploiting its dominance to stifle innovation. [Source: wired.com]
Changes in Spotify-Owned Findaway Voice's Terms of Use Sparks Industry Concern
The backlash against the new terms was so intense that Findaway Voices did immediate damage control. [Source: finance.yahoo.com]
RBmedia Acquires Berrett-Koehler's Audiobook Publishing Business
The deal includes the entire backlist at Berrett-Koehler, which is focused on nonfiction titles in the business, personal development, and social justice spaces. [Source: publishersweekly.com]
StoryFair announces partnership with Blackstone Publishing
StoryFair Audiobooks has positioned itself as a pioneering high-royalty retailer within the audiobook market, introducing an industry-disrupting 75% royalty rate for authors and publishers. [Source: goodereader.com]
BEYOND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Spanish-Language Audio Markets See Fast Growth
In its second Map of the Spanish Audio Industry report, Javier Celaya’s Dosdoce cites extraordinary uptake in audiobooks. [Source: publishingperspectives.com]
Spain’s Publishers Report on Their 2023 Market
With 35.9% of Spaniards saying they never or almost never read, Spain’s publishers want to ‘redouble our efforts’ to boost those numbers. [Source: publishingperspectives.com]
Bologna Book Plus Releases New Audio Forum Program
Discussions include topics from data insights to international reach to new platforms and children’s audio devices to podcasts. [Source: publishingperspectives.com]
Madrid’s Audio Day PARIX: The GSR’s Spanish-Language Audio Event
The Audio Day PARIX program has its emphasis on the very fast-growing Spanish-language audio markets. [Source: publishingperspectives.com]
Sweden's Storytel, BookBeat Grow at Home and Abroad
Progress was particularly evident in the four growth markets for the company—the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, and Turkey—with a 25% increase in average paying subscribers. [Source: publishersweekly.com]
AI News
Audiotrain sessions to look at AI in podcasting, audiobooks and radio
AudioUK’s Audiotrain is to hold a series of webinars exploring the relationship between AI and audio. [Source: podcastingtoday.co.uk]
AI-narrated books are here. Are humans out of a job? This San Diego startup has a solution
While AI narration of audiobooks and articles is increasingly prevalent, this may be the first instance of royalty payment for AI-cloned translations in the audiobook realm. [Source: sandiegouniontribune.com]
out of the box
How I Recorded My Audiobook—in a Mine Shaft 900 Feet Underground
There’s few places quieter than 900 feet underground in an abandoned silver mine—which is why it's the perfect place to record an audiobook. [Source: publishersweekly.com]