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 ]
Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. The product of a self-imposed desert exile with his exhaustive collection of personal... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-08 09:46:50 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. What would happen if Jesus’s second coming occurred in America, and he believed the best way... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-01 09:00:28 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Author and narrator Becky Cooper’s true-crime audiobook, We Keep the Dead Close, chronicles... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-30 09:46:52 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Narrator Amir Abdullah depicts Chicago’s wealthy enclaves, struggling neighborhoods, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-30 09:44:33 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Actress and comedian Rachel Bloom narrates her own memoir, I Want to Be Where the Normal... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-29 09:46:38 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Narrator Edoardo Ballerini anchors a full-cast performance of The Cold Millions, a story that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-28 09:00:55 UTC ]
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Actor Johnny Flynn will narrate the audiobook of The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-17 17:21:47 UTC ]
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George Saunders’ new book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life, is out next month and promises to be a literary master class on the short story. Drawing from his teaching career at Syracuse’s MFA program, Saunders walks readers... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-12-17 17:00:15 UTC ]
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The Calibre Audio charity for readers who have print disabilities is hoping to add 48 new audiobooks to its library this holiday season. The post Calibre Audiobook Charity Joins the UK’s Big Give Holiday Challenge appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-12-02 20:32:53 UTC ]
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HarperNorth has bagged an audiobook about personal development and men's mental health from Paul Mort, UK Mastercoach of the Year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 10:00:16 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Nikki Giovanni’s slightly raspy, slightly sibilant voice draws listeners into Make Me Rain,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-27 11:56:49 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Looking for something to entertain younger listeners—or the whole family? Host Jo Reed and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-27 08:59:06 UTC ]
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Sphere has announced that actor Allan Corduner will narrate the audiobook of Parting Words by 100-year-old human rights lawyer Benjamin Ferencz. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-26 03:14:54 UTC ]
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Red Wheel/Weiser, a publisher of titles on mind-body-spirit and the occult, is joining with Dreamscape Media, an audio book production house and distributor, to launch Red Wheel Audio, a multi-year audiobook program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-11-24 05:00:00 UTC ]
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“A spoonful of honey makes the medicine go down,” says S. A. Cosby on the appeal of thrillers. The medicine he’s referring to is themes like racism, poverty, and income inequality woven throughout his debut novel, Blacktop Wasteland. “It’s easier to talk about those things,” Cosby says, “if... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-23 09:48:50 UTC ]
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Hesitant UK and US publishers need to move into audiobook streaming to stay relevant, and maintain premium pricing in the face of interest from music services such as Spotify, Storytel's c.e.o. Jonas Tellander has warned. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-18 09:52:56 UTC ]
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Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten share their thoughts on Robert Harris’s latest... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-17 17:16:17 UTC ]
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The audiobook sector's boom means it will be able to accommodate Spotify's move into the market but publishers are still only just realising the sector's potential, Bookwire's Videl Bar-Kar has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-16 19:16:13 UTC ]
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Printed book sales plunge in first six months of 2020 on back of shop and school closuresSee all our coronavirus coverageSales of digital books by British publishers are set to hit an all-time high this year as the public turns to reading to escape pandemic cabin fever.However, the ebook and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-14 07:00:02 UTC ]
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What is Chirp? How does it differ from other services like Audible? And, is it worth getting? Learn more in our Chirp audiobooks review! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-11-13 11:34:00 UTC ]
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