Spotify’s Basic plan returns to $11 a month by cutting audiobooks

Spotify has a new plan for US subscribers that keeps you on the old $11 monthly pricing — as long as you don’t mind ditching audiobooks. The new Basic tier includes the music and podcast content you get from Premium but without 15 hours of audiobook access, a recently added feature we suspect many subscribers don’t care about anyway. Spotify said earlier this month it would hike Premium prices to $12 per month, beginning in July. The Basic plan echoes one it rolled out in the UK last month. That one costs £11 per month compared to £12 for Premium with audiobook content. Some have suspected Spotify’s audiobook push has nefarious motives. Earlier this month, the National Music Publishers’ Association asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the move, going as far as calling the company’s audiobook integration “a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system.” The NMPA complaint claims Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties over the next year because of its audiobook fusion. Spotify told Engadget it did nothing wrong and rejected the accusations. Spotify has been penny-pinching in other areas. It was reported last year that the company planned to overhaul its royalty model. One alleged part of that plan was to demonetize tracks earning less than five cents per month, pushing out some indie artists without established audiences.  Spotify also laid off around 9,000 employees late last year, citing “the gap... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2024-06-21 18:36:40 UTC ]
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Heather Reisman Returns as Indigo's CEO; Markus Dohle Named Chair

Reisman has returned as CEO of Indigo Books & Music, not long after CEO Peter Ruis resigned and Reisman officially retired. Newly elected board member Markus Dohle has taken the role of company chair. The company is also preparing to open a new concept store in Toronto. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Indigo founder Heather Reisman returns as CEO

After a brief retirement, Heather Reisman has been reinstated as CEO of Indigo, the book retailer she founded almost 30 years ago. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-09-18 12:50:39 UTC ]
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Zakiya Dalila Harris' life inspired 'The Other Black Girl.' Why she had to cut the cord

The former editor explains how she turned her acclaimed publishing world satire into a Hulu series, while learning to 'divide' herself from her heroine. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-09-13 19:57:43 UTC ]
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PRH Updates Hybrid Work Policy, Plans to Shrink Headquarters

Penguin Random House will "encourage employees to go to the office more frequently" without mandating company-wide in-person attendance. The publisher will also "change" its current office space and "reduce our footprint at 1745 Broadway" beginning this fall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Riot’s SFF Deals for Sept 11, 2023

The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-09-11 13:32:52 UTC ]
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This Week's Bestsellers: September 11, 2023

The #1 book in the country is 'The Brothers Hawthorne,' fourth in the Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. #2, 'Assistant to the Villain,' grew out of author Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s TikTok skits, and another BookTok favorite, Freida McFadden, debuts at #6 in the country with 'The... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of September 11, 2023

Holt buys a posthumous memoir from Hilary Mantel, Liselle Sambury sells a YA dark academia fantasy to McElderry, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Greystone and Postmedia Plan 'Instant Book' on Wildfire Season

Canadian indie publisher Greystone and news media organization Postmedia aim to have 'The Summer Canada Burned' on shelves for November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Costs Cut into Profits at Big Publishers

In the first half of 2023, publishers struggled to keep expenses down, with multiple companies citing higher costs as the major reason margins shrank in the first six months of 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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After Six Turbulent Months, Penguin Random House Profits Increase Slightly

Despite a tumultuous first half of 2023 that included major buyouts and some layoffs, sales at Penguin Random House rose 9.5% in the first six months of 2023 over the comparable period in 2022. Operating earnings increased slightly, by €1 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Safiya Sinclair cut her dreadlocks and wrote a memoir of pain and poetry

Safiya Sinclair was raised to be Rastafari; instead, she became a poet. Why it took her more than a decade to write the lyrical memoir 'How to Say Babylon' Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-28 15:00:14 UTC ]
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Newsroom unions’ return to office negotiations heat up as fall approaches

With the summer season winding down, media companies like The New York Times and Hearst are beginning to push employees to work from the office more regularly, reigniting media unions' years-long efforts to organize around the issue.  Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-08-28 04:01:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook Review: ‘The Ghost Club,’ by Kate Winkler Dawson

Kate Winkler Dawson’s audiobook original reveals the origins of a society of occult-obsessed supernaturalists that included Dickens, Doyle, Yeats and more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-08-18 09:00:23 UTC ]
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Six books to read this Women In Translation month – recommended by our experts

Mysteries from China, short stories from the Balkans, a French-Morrocan autobiography and more. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2023-08-17 13:31:43 UTC ]
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Publisher Salon Grows Revenue After Cutting Resellers

Showing that publishers are better off controlling their own programmatic destiny, news publisher Salon has grown revenue after cutting off access to its inventory for the vast majority of resellers earlier this year. That increase comes that's from being able to charge more for its inventory... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2023-08-16 11:53:00 UTC ]
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Lit Hub Daily: August 11, 2023

Jess deCourcy Hinds hopefully predicts a new trend in book publishing: the librarian memoir. | Lit Hub Libraries “It’s like someone hitting you on the side of the head. It’s marvelous.” Former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed talks to Allan Jones about making an unlistenable album. | Lit Hub... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-11 10:30:06 UTC ]
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The Week in Libraries: August 11, 2023

Among the week's headlines: librarians, educators, and publishers grapple with new state book banning laws; bestselling author John Green responds to having his books pulled from library shelves; a proposed judgment has been filed in the Internet Archive copyright case; and PEN America publishes... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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9 of the Best Video Game and Audiobook Pairings

These video game and audiobook pairings complement each other for the ideal playing and listening experience. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-10 10:34:00 UTC ]
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10 Bookish Jigsaw Puzzles For All Your Audiobook Reading Time

If your fingers are itching to put together a puzzle and you're delighted by bookish things, get into these bookish jigsaw puzzles.- Jamie Canaves Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Book Bans May Bring the Return of Child-Free Libraries: Censorship News, August 4, 2023

Policies in response to book bans are pushing kids out of libraries — plus, this week's censorship and book banning news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-04 10:40:00 UTC ]
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