June 2026 News Roundup
June News begins with the Audio Publishers Association’s release of our annual Sales and Consumer Surveys data, and the world taking notice - 2.43 billion in sales in 2025! At the US Book Show in NYC, a panel on Young Listeners draws a crowd, and Audible’s Lee Jarit spoke with Publishers Weekly about its potential for future growth. Romance audiobooks are surging in popularity - pun intended - while the news from Australia is about the growing role of AI in audiobooks. And finally, Michael Caine allows his voice to be cloned for a new edition of Homer’s The Odyssey in audio.
The business of audiobooks
58% of Americans age 18+ have listened to an audiobook
The Audio Publishers Association annual Surveys show audiobook sales jump to $2.43 billion. [Source: Audio Publishers Association]
U.S. Audiobook Sales Grew 9% in 2025
Publishers reported more than 750,000 active titles last year, a 43% increase from 2024. [Sources: Publishers Weekly and Publishing Perspectives]
Lee Jarit Says Audible Is Not Done Growing
Lee Jarit sits at the intersection of nearly every major force reshaping the audiobook business, from AI narration and international expansion to changing membership models and the new modes of listener discovery. [Source: Publishers Weekly]
USBS 2026: Audiobooks and Accessibility for Young Readers Take Center Stage
The impact of audiobooks for young listeners was the focus of a closing panel at the sixth annual U.S. Book Show, held in New York City on June 2–3. [Source: Publishers Weekly]
Specific markets
Romance Audiobooks are surging in popularity
Audiobooks are reshaping romance novels into immersive, multi-tasking friendly storytelling. [Source: CBC/Radio-Canada]
A.I. News
AI narration has a growing role in audiobooks
Human performance offers a gold standard listening experience: expressive, immersive and authentic. But AI narration has a growing role in the audiobook’s future. [Source: theconversation.com]
SOMETHING OUT OF THE BOOTH
Michael Caine licenses his voice for The Odyssey AI-audiobook
Scholars and translators have mixed feelings about whether an A.I. narration can do justice to Homer’s poetic lines. [Source: The New York Times]
