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 ]
At the Audio Publishers Association's annual Audie Awards, which marked a quarter century this year, 'The Only Plane in the Sky' took home the top award and Stephen King received a lifetime achievement as host Mo Rocca and others saluted the progress of the audiobook form over the past 25 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Beloved stars of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films will voice the first ever audiobook edition of J.K. Rowling's THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD, with proceeds to benefit the Lumos foundation. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-27 16:09:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
J K Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard is being released as an audiobook read by Harry Potter stars. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-26 23:45:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A roundup of audiobook short story collections, with a single narrator or a full cast, that give listeners an incredible audiobook experience. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-25 11:31:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
To protect your work and expand its reach, understanding film, TV and audiobook rights is a must. Publishing attorney and Grammy-award-winning audiobook producer Jessica Kaye tells how. The post Film and Audiobook Rights 101 by Jessica Kaye appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2020-02-21 11:00:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Here are six narrators, who, as of this writing, have each recorded less than five audiobooks. This reader can't wait to listen to them again. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-17 11:32:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
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. In a story that shifts through time, Ramón de Ocampo is a welcome guide, and his narration is... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-17 09:00:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Headline and Dorothy Koomson have launched "Find My Verity", an open casting call designed to bring more black female voices into the world of audiobooks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-17 06:25:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Free agent NFL quarterback and social activist Colin Kaepernick plans to publish a memoir via his own publishing venture and release an audiobook version of the untitled book via an exclusive deal with Audible. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
And here it is: Canadian Book-Buying Habits Haven’t Changed Much in the Last Year. In case you’re still reading, for some reason Forbes is reporting that Canadians (my people) aren’t taking to audiobooks in quite the same way their cousins to the south are. Year-over-year American audiobook... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-11 16:22:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Five nominees for the Grammys spoken word award offer vastly different listening experiences. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-23 15:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Seven publishers had sued the audiobook giant last July, claiming that its audio-to-text service Captions was unauthorisedAfter months of back and forth, Audible has settled in a copyright lawsuit with major publishers over its plan to introduce captions to their recordings, a proposal that the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-01-15 14:00:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon's audiobook company Audible has reached a settlement with a group of seven US publishers in the copyright lawsuit against the firm's Captions programme, according to a letter from Audible's legal team. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-13 21:30:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Penguin Random House Audio will publish an audiobook edition of the stage production of Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel My Name is Lucy Barton (Viking) by the show’s star, Hollywood actress Laura Linney. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-10 15:27:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
"Derry Girls" actor Nicola Coughlan will read the unabridged audiobook of Michelle Gallen’s début novel Big Girl, Small Town. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-08 09:51:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this
When you're looking for an audiobook with a great narrator in addition to a great story, check out these excellent audiobooks narrated by Robin Miles. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-07 11:32:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Few gifts say I didn’t know what to get you like candles or gift cards. And for about the same price as that throw blanket or wine you were planning to wrap, an audiobook can make you the hero of any gift exchange (and they’re even easier to wrap than books). Choosing books for other […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-18 09:48:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Megan Dobson has been appointed publisher of independent audiobook producer RBmedia's ChristianAudio brand. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Here are some recommendations of audiobooks of poetry—in contemporary poetry, classic poetry, and novels in verse—for the Read Harder 2020 task. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-12-13 11:33:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Audible has scooped an original audiobook from Love Factually (Bloomsbury Sigma) author Laura Mucha on attachment theory, following a group of people over the course of a year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-12 08:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this