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 ]
News tagged with: #association asked #audiobook integration #increase profits #deceiving consumers #$150 million #audiobook fusion #royalty model #alleged part #indie artists #established audiences #audiobook-free tier #account page #picking basic #basic option #audiobook

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Spotify’s Basic plan returns to $11 a month by cutting audiobooks'


More Print News Subscribers Plan To Cancel Subs, Uptick In Mobile Consumption

It’s no secret that newspapers and magazine publishers have suffered steep declines in print circulation over the last decade, and that trend is just going to continue, according to a survey of 1,134 U.S. adults conducted by the Donald W. R ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mobile consumption #magazine publishers #print circulation


Interactive Books!? Hunger Games Camp, Audiobook Powered Vibrator

The idea of interactive books is being taken to a new level with the new Hunger Games Summer Camp and a vibrator that wirelessly syncs to erotic audiobooks. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #interactive books #erotic audiobooks


Publishers Object to E-Book Plan for Apple

Five major U.S. publishers objected to the Justice Department's proposal to limit Apple's influence in the electronic books market, saying it would effectively alter their existing settlements with the U.S. government. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2013-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishers object #publishers objected #justice department


Planning for Multiplatform Publishing

With so much at stake, and so much potential labor cost involved in maintaining multiple channels, many publishers are being cautious in planning their long-term content strategies. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #multiplatform publishing


Monthly ebook ranking to launch in The Bookseller

The Bookseller is to publish a monthly ebook ranking with sales figures supplied by all the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


25 Years Later, Neil Gaiman's Sandman</em> Returns With a Prequel

This October, Neil Gaiman's Sandman is returning to comic book shops with a prequel series titled Sandman: Overture.     Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2013-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #neil gaiman


How Amazon Became the King of Audiobooks

Recorded books are now a billion-dollar business, which Amazon dominates perhaps like none other.     Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2013-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recorded books


Young Hollywood Is Already Laying Big Plans for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Brazil has been a complicated marketplace for brands in recent weeks, but it's not stopping companies from getting ready for the FIFA 2014 World Cup. For instance, Young Hollywood and Momentum Entertainment Group today are announcing their partnership to create a digital channel that will focus... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online platform #ad units #people watching #traffic boost


Post Chapter 11, RDA Looks for Turnaround

Upheaval has been a defining characteristic of RDA Holding Co. for the last three years. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rda holding


Seth 'asked to return $1.7m advance'

Penguin UK has declined to comment on reports that author Vikram Seth has been asked to return a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #7m advance #penguin uk


Industry Stocks Rose 12.8% in First Six Months of 2013

The Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 12.8% in the first six months of 2013, just slightly below the 13.8% increase posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the January-to-June period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-07-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Cengage files for Chapter 11

Cengage Learning has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a pre-arranged... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cengage learning


Amazon Kindle tops yearly Japan e-reader sales five months after launch

Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader has dominated the competition in Japan since its launch last year, according to new research, showing the company's low pricing and powerful brand may have overcome its late entrance into the market. The Kindle accounted for 38.3 percent of the e-reader market in... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #officially launched #kindle e-reader #low pricing #powerful brand #official start


RDA Bankruptcy Plan Approved by Court

RDA Holding, parent company of The Reader's Digest Association, had its plan for emergence from bankruptcy approved and will officially exit Chapter 11 in late July. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rda holding #digest association #late july


12 Companies That Have Cut Ties With Paula Deen

Random House's Ballantine Books joined the ranks of the Food Network, Smithfield, Wal-Mart, and a bevy of other companies in ceasing its relationship with the self-proclaimed queen of butter.     Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2013-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cut ties #paula deen #random house #food network


Review: Free and portable Briss cuts PDFs down to size

This portable app's website says "Bright Snippet Sire," but everybody calls this open-source favorite Briss for…er…short. Briss crops a section of a PDF file and creates another PDF file of the cropped area. You can crop unwanted areas from PDFs with Briss. It's free, open-source, and portable,... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cropped area #single-column pages #unnecessary margins #page numbers #chapter headings #epub converter


Spending Review cuts 'mean more library closures'

Library campaigners are braced for a further round of cuts as the Government unveils the latest... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library closures #library campaigners


Will Wiles to return with hotel tale

Fourth Estate has signed a second novel from author Will Wiles. Mark Richards at Fourth Estate... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fourth estate #mark richards


IPG offers support as MPG rescue plan fails

The Independent Publishers Guild has brokered a deal with Ingram Content Group to support IPG... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Major library cuts for Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire looks set to axe 32 libraries in a bid to save £2m from the county council... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #county council