Amazon Recruits Comedians, Engineers for Expanding Audio Service

Amazon.com Inc. is ramping up its investment in podcasts and other radio-style shows to expand the types of programming it offers via Audible, the audio book company it acquired in 2008.Audible has recruited well-known comedians, along with radio and podcast producers for the initiative, and job postings suggest a significant global push. Maria Bamford and Jonathan Katz are taping episodes of "Bedtime Stories," a show in which comedians rewrite fairy tales, according to their manager Bruce Smith.Entertainment plays a crucial role in Amazon's effort to push beyond its core business of selling books, laundry detergent and televisions online. The Seattle-based company's original films and TV shows have won critical acclaim and helped increase the appeal of its $99-a-year Prime service, which includes delivery discounts along with video and music streaming. Audible has more than 250,000 audio programs including books and plays, with downloads available for iPhones, Androids and other smartphone systems. Continue reading at AdAge.com Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'

[ Advertising Age | 2016-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #selling books #laundry detergent #tv shows #music streaming

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Cinchcast Launches Audio Platform Cloud Solution for Digital Publishers

Cinchcast, whose technology has been used by BlogTalkRadio since 2006, released a cloud-based audio solution for digital publishers. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BA and PA set to oppose Amazon-Book Depository merger

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/07/2011 - 09:06 The Booksellers Association has announced it will formally oppose the merger of Amazon and The Book Depository, with the BA saying that Amazon already had a "de facto monopoly". Meanwhile, the PA is actively considering... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Acquire U.K. Online Book Seller and Publisher

Amazon.com has acquired The Book Depository International, a seven-year old online bookseller based in the UK, which also republishes titles that are no longer in print or poorly available. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Buys U.K. Competitor

Amazon is making a move to become even more international. The online bookseller has just acquired the Book Depository International, a U.K. bookseller that distinguishes itself as being home to "the largest range of titles in the world." The terms of the deal have not yet been released, but the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to acquire The Book Depository

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 12:29 Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository, the fast-growing online retailer founded by Andrew Crawford in 2004. Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European Retail, said: "Customers in more... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Depository to "operate independently" of Amazon

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Spotify for books" service launches

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed “the Spotify of books” has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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M&A Soars for Digital and Marketing Services While B-to-B Media Deals Plummet

Mergers and acquisitions in the media, information, marketing services and tech sectors in the first half of 2011 may not be matching the breakneck pace of the first half of 2010 (which rebounded 61 percent over a dismal first half 2009) but were still up 3 percent in the number of deals (to... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: The 'worrying' battle for books

Arts editor Will Gompertz's second report into the impact of technology on the publishing industry Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sound + Vision Uses Digital Edition to Expand Editorial

Though many magazines are now in the tablet game, Bonnier’s Sound + Vision is using this opportunity to strengthen content in a way not possible on the printed page. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AUDIO: Are traditional books doomed?

Sara Lloyd, Pan Macmillan: "The basic process of writing will stay quite stable, but the authors who will do particularly well are ones who think about how to build a digital audience." Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The secrets of Y-Service to Aurum Press

Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 05:28 Aurum Press has bought a biography about the service that monitored and intercepted the German military's radio traffic during the Second World War. Publisher Graham Coster bought world English language rights to The Secret Listeners by Sinclair McKay... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What Amazon Must Do to Save Kindle Direct Publishing

As awesome as Kindle Direct Publishing is, it will be crushed by spam if Amazon doesn't take some action to control the amount of junk titles being dumped on it. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven Ways to Monetize Marketing Services Online

“Beyond the banner” is a term that publishers have kicked around for years in terms of digital marketing opportunities. As the number of different channels grows, so does the opportunity to really go beyond the banner but it often requires a significant commitment. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Open Road Expands Marketing Team

Open Road Integrated Media is expanding its marketing team, adding new members and promoting those within the department. Rachel Chou, chief marketing officer at Open Road, annouced the changes, crediting the growth to the rapidly expanding market for ebooks. Lauren Naefe has been hired as... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Room leads Amazon Orange sales race

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 07/06/2011 - 11:40 Amazon.co.uk has announced that Orange Prize shortlisted author Emma Donoghue’s Room (Picador) is leading sales on the website ahead of rival contenders for the award. The Orange Prize for Fiction is revealed tomorrow (8th... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon reveals frontlist deal for Eisler at BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Thu, 26/05/2011 - 08:52 Thriller writer Barry Eisler, who turned his back on a two-book deal for half a million dollars from St Martin’s Press, has decided to accept six figures from Amazon and become one of its first frontlist authors. The Eisler... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Announces New Nook; Amazon Responds with Cheaper 3G

Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch announced the new Nook, aimed at "those turned off by buttons." Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Publishing Plans Cause Rivals Some Unease

Earlier in the week, Amazon announced that it was hiring Laurence Kirshbaum, the former CEO of Time Warner Book Group, to head a new publishing imprint. This seems like an odd time for Amazon to be making its mark on the pubishing industry: book sales are down, major book chains like Borders are... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kirshbaum move could reduce competition—BEA

Written By: Gayle Feldman Publication Date: Tue, 24/05/2011 - 09:41 Responses to Amazon.com's hire of Laurence Kirshbaum as publisher have varied from worried to fear of a "dampening" effect on competition among delegates at the BEA conference. Word that started to spread Sunday night was... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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