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 ]
Jumping from one to three major unlimited-subscription services for audio content, Spain's publishing market is growing fast. The post Audiobook Subscriptions: Audible and Podimo Join Storytel in Spain appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-21 16:07:40 UTC ]
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Gore Vidal’s “Hollywood” is finally getting the audiobook treatment, and not a moment too soon. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Famed writer and activist Cory Doctorow is selling the audio version of his upcoming book via Kickstarter to sidestep the walled garden of Amazon-owned audiobook platform Audible. When science fiction writer and activist Cory Doctorow releases his new novel, Attack Surface, next month, you’ll be... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-09-12 09:00:52 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. Seraphine Valentine narrates Alexis Daria’s charming romance, You Had Me at Hola, where the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-11 08:41:16 UTC ]
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Holliday Grainger will read the audiobook version of Dolly Alderton's eagerly-awaited debut novel Ghosts (Fig Tree). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 15:24:17 UTC ]
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The prankish device is the subject of a new audiobook that pokes serious fun at Silicon Valley’s culture of disruption. We spoke with its inventor. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2020-08-31 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The Oscar-nominated actor narrates “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” in an audiobook project he says “doesn’t change my perspective so much as it amplifies it.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-08-30 09:00:11 UTC ]
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Sir Paul Nurse will narrate the audio edition of his book What is Life?, to be published by Faber in September. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-27 14:56:38 UTC ]
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Get immersed in a world and get in deep with the characters in these compelling audiobook series (and learn the length of each series). Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-08-25 10:33:00 UTC ]
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W F Howes is to release new audiobook versions of a "cult series of horror-genre" books, using 40-year-old recordings made by their original publisher The Eden Book Society. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 10:06:08 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. The hosts of the “Call Your Girlfriend” podcast are warm, open, and matter-of-fact narrators... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-14 08:44:10 UTC ]
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LinkedIn offloaded presentation-sharing service SlideShare to ebook and audiobook platform Scribd for an undisclosed price. The professional network acquired SlideShare for $118.75 million in May 2012. Scribd will begin operating SlideShare Sept. 24, managing accounts and content, and Scribd... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-08-12 14:55:00 UTC ]
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Do you always listen to audiobooks on a certain speed? Is it worth listening on double speed to get through twice as many books? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-08-11 10:39:00 UTC ]
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Lana Del Rey is releasing her forthcoming poetry collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, on Tuesday, July 28 in digital form. In case you prefer your celebrity poetry spoken aloud, though, she has also recorded an audio version of the book, which will be released on vinyl, CD,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-24 16:04:22 UTC ]
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Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor CBE will narrate the audiobook of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-24 00:01:04 UTC ]
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Figures for last year show sales of £6.3bn, up 20% on 2015, but the Publishers Association says sector needs government support to weather coronavirusBook sales in the UK hit record levels in 2019, driven by a surge in audiobook and nonfiction titles, according to new figures released as... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-21 23:01:08 UTC ]
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NetGalley has added audiobook support to its platform and launched its first app allowing members to read and listen to its content. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-13 18:47:51 UTC ]
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BAFTA-nominated actor Steven Mackintosh is to narrate the audiobook of Louise Candlish's 2020 thriller The Other Passenger (Simon & Schuster). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-12 17:42:43 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Audio is releasing Edinburgh Unlocked, a comedy festival in audiobook format featuring names such as Ivo Graham, Jessie Cave, Sofie Hagen and Dane Baptiste. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-12 14:00:06 UTC ]
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If thrillers with complicated relationships are your cup of murder-y tea, here are some audiobook thrillers to keep you in suspense. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-07 10:32:59 UTC ]
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