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 ]
The audiobook market in the United States is steadily growing, the Audio Publishers Association reports, with revenue increasing by 9% to $2 billion in 2023 and 38% of American adults having listened to an audiobook in the last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As part of its efforts to force Spotify to be more transparent about how it pays authors, the Coalition of Concerned Creators commissioned a survey to discover how audiobook listeners felt about the service. It found mixed results. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Audiobooks continue to be a major bright spot for the industry. According to Audio Publishers Association, in 2022 alone, publishers’ audiobook revenue grew a whopping 10% to $1.8 billion. Here, PW takes a look at the publishers, platforms, and production companies bringing you the best in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The world’s most popular streaming service has expanded into audiobooks, with a suite of services to offer publishers, authors, and agents and with a listening base hungry for audiobook content. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Welcome to the shiny new version of Best of Book Riot! Who doesn’t love a glow-up? 💔 Nobel Prize-winning author ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-05-15 15:31:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this
How many of these free audiobook sources have you tried, and which ones are your favorite? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-05-15 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
When is a book not a book? When it is performed by a starry cast of hundreds. Except it has always been more complicated than thatNews this week of a 17% hike in the UK’s audiobook sales might seem like a niche business story, but it raises an existential question. What exactly is an audiobook... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-10 17:25:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
HarperCollins eked out only a small profit in its latest quarter, with a 14% increase in digital audiobook sales insufficient in offsetting softer sales to Walmart and Costco and slowing sales of romance books and children's books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-05-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Audiobooks are fast becoming ‘a major route to market for consumers of books’, the trade body saysThe number of UK audiobook downloads increased by 17% between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Publishers Association (PA).Revenue from audiobooks rose 24% across the same period to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-07 15:28:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Audible is testing a cheaper subscription tier in Australia that sounds like an answer to Spotify’s audiobook push. Like the more expensive plan, the new Standard membership gives you one free title per month. But, similar to gaming services like PlayStation Plus, you lose access to the books... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-05-02 19:13:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Audio platform Spotify made its first appearance at NewFronts week on Wednesday evening, part of a larger bid from the streaming platform to attract advertising to its growing inventory of digital video. While Spotify remains predominantly a music, podcast and audiobook... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2024-05-01 21:11:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
According to data released by Spotify, users aged 18-34 make up 57% of the platform's audiobook listeners, while television adaptations such as 'Shōgun' and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' have prompted a surge in demand for specific titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As I was preparing to record the audiobook version of my forthcoming memoir, Other People’s Words, I had some questions: What do five exclamation points in a row sound like? Four question marks? Strings and strings of periods? My publisher, Spiegel and Grau, had booked three marathon recording... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-16 08:54:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Ebook and digital audiobook use by kindergarten through 12th grade students has exploded in popularity, up 20% since 2022, 286% since 2019. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-04-03 14:54:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Fish swim, birds fly and streaming services increase their prices. That’s (mostly) the way of things. After maintaining the same pricing for Premium for a long time, Spotify looks set to increase it twice within a year in some countries. According to Bloomberg, Spotify Premium will be around $1... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-04-03 14:30:13 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As Bologna Book Plus prepares to stage its first Audio Forum, Spotify's audiobook catalogue jumps from 200,000 t0 250,000 titles. The post Spotify Expands Its Premium Audiobooks Offer: Canada, Ireland, New Zealand appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-04-02 20:34:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand will have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening at no extra cost starting on April 9. Subscribers in the US, UK and Australia have had access to this perk for several months. The Premium audiobook catalog now includes more than... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-04-02 18:24:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
OpenAI just announced that it recently conducted a small-scale preview of a new tool called Voice Engine. This is a voice cloning technology that can mimic any speaker by analyzing a 15-second audio sample. The company says it generates “natural-sounding speech” with “emotive and realistic... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-29 19:03:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'One hour of listening to an audiobook on Storytel emits 2.3 grams of CO2e,' the Swedish subscription streamer today reports. The post Storytel’s 2023 Report: The Sound of Sustainability appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-28 21:37:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A shift of focus on libraries to retail channels and an aggressive acquisition of new titles—including, recently, works by John LeCarré and Jon Fosse—led to nearly $30 million in revenue in 2023, a 39% jump for the Ohio-based audiobook publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this