Spotify has once again drawn the ire of the music industry. The National Music Publishers' Association has called on the Federal Trade Commission to examine the streaming service's addition of audiobook content into all of its paid subscription plans. According to the group's FTC complaint, Spotify's recent actions are part of "a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system." This requires some backstory. In November 2023, Spotify announced that it would include 15 hours of audiobook content as part of all its Premium subscription plans. A few months later, the company unveiled a new audiobook-only subscription, offering the same number of listening hours for $10 a month. The publishers' organization claims that Spotify's recent price increases are based on offering that extra audiobook content, and that paying customers are automatically being charged for a service they didn't choose and can't opt out of without switching to the free, ad-supported listening experience. And the additional revenue from the higher Premium subscription costs may not go to the music composers. According to the FTC complaint, Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties over the first year of these new bundled Premium plans. The NMPA letter goes so far as to call the new audiobook-only plan "a sham" that "exists solely to allow Spotify to claim that audiobook content is a significantly and independently valuable aspect of its 'bundled'... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-06-12 23:52:55 UTC ]
Each month, for your literary listening pleasure, our friends at AudioFile Magazine bring us the cream of the audiobook crop. Now, at 2024 draws to a close, they’ve rounded up the very best audiobooks of the year. Happy listening and happy holidays! * BEST FICTION AUDIOBOOKS FOR 2024 AudioFile’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-12-06 09:56:45 UTC ]
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Spotify for Authors, an analytics and promotion platform for the company's audiobook division, will offer demographic data about listeners, author profile pages, and redemption codes for reviewers, among other features. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Opens an Audiobook Distribution Agreement With Spotify The post Bloomsbury Opens an Audiobook Distribution Agreement With Spotify appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-11-22 22:27:19 UTC ]
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Amazon moves to shore up Audible against Spotify's audiobook success, plus a power ranking of the books of 1994, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-11-20 16:00:00 UTC ]
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As of today, subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited in the U.S., UK, and Canada can now listen to one audiobook per month from Audible's catalog for free. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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November is in full swing, which means Black Friday is right around the corner. But the days in which you had to wait for Black Friday proper to get good deals have long been behind us. The holiday shopping season is effectively the entire month of November now, with early Black Friday deals... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-14 17:34:34 UTC ]
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Black Friday may technically just be one day, but it’s evolved to consume the entire month of November in the US at this point. For the past few years, retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target have ushered in the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no different. Early... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-12 15:35:44 UTC ]
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Black Friday may technically just be one day, but it’s evolved to consume the entire month of November in the US at this point. For the past few years, retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target have ushered in the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no different. Early... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-10 18:29:06 UTC ]
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With each passing year, Black Friday seems to turn more and more into "Black November," with many retailers starting their holiday sales weeks before the day itself. But while the bombardment of promos can be annoying, it also presents a good chance to beat the rush and finish holiday shopping... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-08 17:19:44 UTC ]
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There are really two types of ereaders: Dedicated ebook/audiobook devices or slabs that are more akin to small tablets with E Ink screens. In the first category, the competition is really between Amazon’s Kindle devices and Rakuten’s Kobo readers. Ereaders in the latter group include entries... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-07 08:00:36 UTC ]
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Black Friday may technically just be one day, but it’s evolved to consume the entire month of November in the US at this point. For the past few years, retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target have ushered in the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no different. Early... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-06 16:13:12 UTC ]
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Amazon completely revamped its Kindle family in October when it debuted the entirely new Colorsoft ereader along with updated generations of the other three existing models: the standard Kindle, the Paperwhite and the Scribe E Ink tablet. The new Paperwhite has a slightly larger screen, a bigger... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-04 16:30:36 UTC ]
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Black Friday may technically just be one day, but it’s evolved to consume the entire month of November in the US at this point. For the past few years, retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target have ushered in the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier, and this year is no different. Black... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-04 15:30:52 UTC ]
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With each passing year, Black Friday seems to turn more and more into "Black November," with many retailers starting their holiday sales weeks before the day itself. But while the bombardment of promos can be annoying, it also presents a good chance to beat the rush and finish holiday shopping... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-11-01 16:30:39 UTC ]
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Well, it finally happened. After years of waiting and requests, Amazon debuted the $280 Kindle Colorsoft, its first ereader with a color display. The company’s ereaders have dominated this space since the original Kindle came out 17 years ago, but in this case, it feels like Amazon is playing... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-10-30 13:15:29 UTC ]
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If you’ve ever tried listening to your favorite playlist only to have it drowned out by chatty commuters, airplane engines or other distracting noises, you might want to consider some headphones with active noise cancelation (ANC). Whether you’re working in a bustling coffee shop, catching a... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-10-30 09:00:38 UTC ]
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The new cloud-based software platform, founded by Spanish-language audiobook industry veteran Juliana Rueda Gutierrez, offers an audiobook production option that integrates management, recording, and quality control into a single interface. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The comedian Jenny Slate reads the audiobook version of “Lifeform,” her new memoir about parenting. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-10-23 09:02:21 UTC ]
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Spotify has expanded its audiobook service to four new non-English speaking markets: France, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The localized catalog includes 15,000 titles in French and 15,000 in Dutch and Flemish. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-10-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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