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

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Check it Out: Amazon Will Add 11,000 U.S. Libraries to the Kindle [eMoney]

Amazon just eliminated one of the biggest differences between the Kindle and competing e-readers. It said today it will be rolling out the Kindle Library Lending feature later this year, allowing customers to borrow books for free from more than 11,000 libraries in the U.S. Other e-readers and... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #library books #kindle devices #allowing customers #borrow books #mobile apps


PBS cuts "will hit sales"

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 18/04/2011 - 09:20 Poetry publishers have united en masse to demand the Arts Council overturn its decision to stop funding the Poetry Book Society, saying the demise of the organisation would lead to a "considerable loss of sales". A total of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chatto windus #dan franklin #jonathan cape #macmillan children


Book spend cut "easiest" way to save library revenue

Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 14/04/2011 - 16:09 A libraries boss has admitted cutting spending on books is "the easiest" way to achieve savings, as wholesaler Bertrams reports its library sales have slumped by a quarter. Results put out by parent Smiths... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #benedicte page #library sales #operating profits


Plans revealed for WBN 2012, Kingsford to head

Written By: Charlotte Williams and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 08:30 World Book Night organisers have unveiled future plans for the event, which is scheduled to take place on 23rd April 2012. Foyles marketing manager Julia Kingsford has been appointed WBN chief executive.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #charlotte williams #artistic director #ursula mackenzie


Wallpaper becomes IPC's first monthly iPad title

IPC Media, the UK's biggest magazine publisher, is launching its first dedicated monthly iPad app this summer, for its design magazine Wallpaper. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ipc media


Eason unveils turnaround plans

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 08/04/2011 - 08:40 Irish union Siptu has said it would “completely oppose” any compulsory redundancies enforced by bookselling chain Eason, as m.d Conor Whelan outlines turnaround plans for the retailer. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Moves Forward With Plans To Allow Android Apps on Nook [Mobilized]

The bookseller is proceeding with plans to open its own Android app store for the Nook Color, announcing new tools for developers and promising they will get a 70 percent cut of revenue. The first apps and store are due out with a major update to the Nook software due out this spring. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #android apps #nook color


Publishers gloomy on Borders' turnaround plan

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:05 US publishers have dismissed Borders' recovery plan, which includes revamped stores and increased online sales, as unrealistic and are increasingly gloomy about its future. The New York Times reports Borders senior... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house


Pullman attacks ACE poetry cuts

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:04 Authors including Philip Pullman have warned the "biodiversity of poetry publishing in England" is in "jeopardy", following Arts Council England's funding cuts to poetry presses Arc, Flambard and Enitharmon. In a letter... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #funding cuts #full bloom


Fears over access to children's poetry after Arts Council cuts

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Wed, 06/04/2011 - 09:37 Children's poetry is among the biggest losers in the children's literature sector following the recent cuts in Arts Council funding, it has emerged. As well as the Poetry Book Society (PBS) which has seen 100% of its funding... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #funding cut #biggest losers #north west


Quercus makes £1m from digital in three months

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 15:22 Quercus has nearly matched the £1m digital revenue it made from ebooks last year in the first three months of 2011. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council defends Poetry Book Society cuts

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 09:16 The Arts Council has defended its funding cut to the Poetry Book Society (PBS), claiming its "reach and distribution was not as wide or effective as other applicants'". In a letter to the Times, Antonia Byatt, director of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #funding cut #poetry publishing #arts council


Waterstone's rolling out new teen sections next month

Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Mon, 28/03/2011 - 09:29 Waterstone’s is to roll out new teen sections to around 100 of its stores from April, following a pilot in four stores that began last summer. While figures were not available, Waterstone’s said it was “very pleased” with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sarah clarke #make sense #teen books


Book Ruling Cuts Options for Google

Google may seek help from Congress as it tries to salvage a book publishing settlement that was rejected by a federal judge. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #federal judge


The New York Times Unveils Paywall Plan

The New York Times today introduced its new digital subscription plan for charging the heaviest users of its site. The plan takes effect with readers in Canada today, and in the U.S. and the rest of the world on March 28. The plan offers three digital subscription plans across a variety of devices. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #heaviest users #plan offers


More job cuts, closures in store for REDgroup

Administrators for Borders and Angus & Robertson have announced new lay-offs and warned that more bookshops could close. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #job cuts #angus robertson


Hive to launch "in the next couple of months"

Written By: Lisa Campbell and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 17/03/2011 - 16:06 Gardners is set to launch its Hive.co.uk website within weeks and has 400 retailers signed up, although some indies have expressed mixed views about the initiative. Speaking at the Independent... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lisa campbell #uk website #independent publishers #guild conference


Big French publishing houses to return to Paris Book Fair

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 16/03/2011 - 09:03 The new-look Paris Book Fair will open on Friday [18th March] for four days as five of the leading French publishers ponder the raids by the European Commission competition officials a fortnight ago. Hachette Livre, Bayard... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hachette livre #scaled back #opening hours


Popular Science Offers a Peek behind the Apple, Google Subscription Plans

Popular Science has been at the front of the pack in terms of early adoption since the start of the apps race. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin plans peachy Dahl celebration

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 10/03/2011 - 15:15 James, Aunts Spiker and Sponge, as well as the Centi­pede, Ladybird and Earthworm will be celebrated this spring as Puffin publishes a 50th anniversary edition of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and launches a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #giant peach #roald dahl #quentin blake