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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On Politics: Eric Adams' library cuts would sever a vital lifeline

One of the great embarrassments of New York, the richest city in America, is how money can’t be found to keep public libraries open every single day.It is, truly, a matter of priorities. Other far-reaching, progressive policy proposals can come with enormous upfront costs — municipal or... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-04-29 15:50:14 UTC ]
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Fed rate cuts unlikely thanks spending by rich Americans

As baby boomers have aged, they have accumulated more assets leading to more discretionary spending. Since retiring two years ago, Joan Harris has upped her travel game.Once or twice a year, she visits her two adult children in different states. She’s planning multiple other trips, including to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-04-29 13:22:05 UTC ]
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Audible to turn all seven of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books into full-cast audiobooks

The books will be released sequentially, starting with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, with a full cast of yet-to-be-named actors and a ‘groundbreaking new soundscape’New audiobooks of all seven titles in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series will be released exclusively on Audible in late... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-25 16:37:29 UTC ]
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Oakland’s Poet Laureate Receives Rainin Arts Fellowship, Plans Anthology with New Indie Press

Ayodele "WordSlanger" Nzinga, honored for her theater innovation, is co-editing a bilingual anthology with Oso Perezoso Press, launched by indie publisher J.K. Fowler. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Partners With ElevenLabs AI on Non-English Audiobooks

The use of ElevenLabs' 'Projects' text-to-speech technology, HarperCollins says, can bolster its work in non-English-language audiobooks. The post HarperCollins Partners With ElevenLabs AI on Non-English Audiobooks appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-04-19 00:15:08 UTC ]
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PEN President Jennifer Finney Boylan Announces Plans to Review PEN’s Work Going Back a Decade

PEN America has faced an enormous amount of criticism from the literary world for, among other things, failing to call Israel’s six-month assault on Gaza a genocide, and is now facing a wave of withdrawals from two of its signature events, the literary awards and the World Voices Festival. In... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-18 14:26:32 UTC ]
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A new series of Star Wars shorts premieres on Disney+ next month

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[ Engadget | 2024-04-04 19:00:07 UTC ]
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Dreamscape's Audiobook Program Expands Its Ambit

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Suzanne Herz Returns to Penguin Random House as John Grisham's Publisher

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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How This Author Recorded His Audiobook—in a Mine Shaft 900 Feet Underground

When it came time for debut author Brent Underwood to record the audiobook for his book 'Ghost Town Living,' about the California mining town he calls home, he decided to build a makeshift studio in the long-abandoned silver mine at the heart of his story. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Telegraph takeover: UK planning new laws to prevent foreign states owning assets

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[ The Guardian | 2024-03-13 15:52:35 UTC ]
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LBF: UK Publishing’s Impact Worth £11 Billion, New Report

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-12 03:55:23 UTC ]
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Tattered Cover Files Updated Reorganization Plan

A new plan by the iconic Denver bookseller sees a streamlined company emerging from bankruptcy as early as June and returning to profitability next year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Pantheon takes journalist Paolo Ramos’s book on the rise of the Latino far right; Pegasus takes YA author Kristina Pérez’s adult debut, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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