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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Amazon and Hachette have resolved a contentious contract battle that caught readers and authors in the crossfire for months. Neither company is talking specifics, but the New York Times reports that Hachette will get the ability to set its own ebook prices. At the same time, Amazon will offer... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In this week's roundup of books generating interest around the globe, an Italian bestseller about a talented perfumer picks up heat; a Spanish novel about an Oxford professor drawn into a murder investigation picks up multiple foreign sales; and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online subscription service Scribd is adding 30,000 audiobooks to its library, with the “vast majority” available to UK customers. Publishers including HarperCollins, Scholastic, Blackstone and Naxos have made titles available. Audiobooks will be available as part of Scribd’s existing $8.99 a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd's ebook subscription service seems to be making some inroads on Amazon's turf, and now the company is looking to take a swipe at Audible's lunch. From today, subscribers will be able to access a library of 30,000 audiobook titles that include... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faced with a difficult comparison to last year's third quarter, sales at Simon & Schuster fell 11% in the third period ended September 30, 2014, compared to the same period last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The subscription service is adding 30,000 recorded books to the half-million ebooks it already offers.Thirteen months ago, San Francisco startup Scribd launched a service which aims to do for books what Netflix does for movies and TV shows. It offers a large-but-not-utterly-comprehensive... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The rise of the Subscription Economy continues. Little more than a year after launching its all-you-can-read ebook service, the San Francisco startup Scribd has announced that the service now offers more than 30,000 audiobooks, including titles from big-name publishing houses HarperCollins and... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The popularity of the digital subscription model continues to grow with the announcement that ebook subscription service Scribd will now offer unlimited access to more than 30,000 audiobooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dan Vado, founder of the Alternative Press Expo, is running the show again after 19 years. He talks about his plans for the pioneering West Coast indie comics festival after it relocates to San Jose. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent booksellers’ plans to use the money donated to them by US author James Patterson range from creating a “Dangerous Reading Club” to running a book review website for children. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones looks set to give its Christmas trade an added boost with the opening of two new branches between now and December 25th. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of adult trade books were down 2.2% in the first seven months of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013, while sales in the children’s/YA segment rose 25.8%, according to AAP’s monthly StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a novel take on the dangers of book burning, up to four libraries in Hertfordshire could be relocated into the area’s part-time fire stations. Hertfordshire County Council has received £700,000 of government funding for the scheme, which it called “pioneering”. The funding will see up to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ben Willis is to leave Headline to join Transworld, where he started his publishing career, in the newly created role of head of Transworld digital publicity. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This month, we’re balancing some quick reads---a Jonathan Franzen-blessed debut and a slim companion volume from one of our favorite new(-ish) fantasy writers---with Walter Isaacson’s latest blockbuster on the history of technological innovation, along with a few other selections. Attention,... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson has reported sales level in underlying terms for the first nine months of 2014, with Penguin Random House performing "well" in the third quarter. Meanwhile chief financial officer Robin Freestone is to stand down after eight years in his role, the company said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eighty-nine percent of respondents to PW’s recently concluded salary survey identified themselves as white—a finding that, while hardly surprising, underscores the challenges the industry faces in producing books that appeal to minorities. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bertelsmann SE, Europe's biggest media company, intends to increase its stake in book-publishing venture Penguin Random House as early as next year, according to people familiar with the... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In spring 2015, Dover Publications, which is best known for paperback reprints of classics and out-of-print titles, is launching Dover Graphic Novel, a new line of graphic novels and nonfiction comics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With the notable exceptions of audio downloads and children’s/YA, sales were down through May compared to the first five months of 2013, based on figures supplied to the AAP by 1,209 publishers for its StatShot program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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