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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Book Deals: Week of March 11, 2024

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

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Microsoft is killing Android apps on Windows 11

Microsoft is unexpectedly killing off its support for Android apps within Windows 11, although you’ll have a year to play games on your Windows tablet until support officially expires. But if you haven’t already installed support for Android apps, you’re out of luck. Microsoft isn’t... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2024-03-05 18:15:39 UTC ]
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79-unit residential project planned for Tribeca site with unloved tower

A developer is betting that people will pay top dollar for up-close views of one of the city’s most unloved sites: AT&T’s Long Lines Building in Tribeca, a windowless, 29-story hulk from the 1970s that routinely makes lists of New Yorkers’ least-favorite buildings.The plan, which was put... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2024-03-04 18:30:46 UTC ]
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Bono's 'Surrender' Wins Audiobook of the Year at 2024 Audie Awards

At the 29th annual Audies, presented by the Audio Publishers Association and held in Los Angeles on March 4, winners across 27 categories were announced. The night's biggest honor, Audiobook of the Year, went to 'Surrender,' written and narrated by Bono. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Rights Roundup: Dreamscape’s Jon Fosse Audiobooks

Our pre-London Book Fair Rights Roundup brings together work originating in Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Québec. The post Rights Roundup: Dreamscape’s Jon Fosse Audiobooks appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-02 01:43:41 UTC ]
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Audiobook Review: ‘Surely You Can’t Be Serious,’ by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker

In the audiobook oral history “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of ‘Airplane!,’” a cast of dozens fondly revisits a now-classic film. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-03-01 14:12:30 UTC ]
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After hiring new local executive, Australian startup plans to nearly triple Denver team

An Australian startup that recently hired a new North American president plans to grow its U.S. headquarters in Denver. The startup is a digital platform that helps privately owned businesses determine their valuation. It also helps create a roadmap for a successful exit, which could include a... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2024-02-28 13:09:19 UTC ]
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Spotify's Findaway Voices Terms of Use Still Raise Concerns

Updated terms of service for Spotifiy's indie author audiobook distribution platform Findaway Voices appeared to give Spotify broad powers to reuse content. An outcry forced a revision of terms, but clarification is still needed, say authors and affiliates. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Virtuous Con Returns—and Looks Toward the Future

At the 4th annual Black woman–owned online convention, which celebrates sci-fi, fantasy, and comics artists each Black History Month, panelists discussed topics including book banning, incorporating real-world issues into children’s books, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-27 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook Review: ‘My Name Is Barbra,’ by Barbra Streisand

In Streisand’s new audiobook recording for her chatty, brick-size memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” the superlative diva adds a little freestyling. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-02-23 12:45:40 UTC ]
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UK’s Society of Authors: More Clarity in Spotify’s Terms

Changes in Spotify's terms of use for its Findaway Voices audiobook product trigger concerns from the Society of Authors in London. The post UK’s Society of Authors: More Clarity in Spotify’s Terms appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-02-22 15:16:42 UTC ]
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Erica Berry on the Polyamorous Intimacy of Reader, Author, and Audiobook Narrator

I always imagined, that, given the choice, I would read my own audiobook. I had heard memoirs often sounded best in the author’s throat—something about the familiar tang of the hardship unspooled. But had I written a memoir? A bookseller acquaintance asked me that a year before the publication... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-22 09:54:39 UTC ]
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EC Comics Returns from the Crypt at Oni Press

As the result of a new publishing partnership between Oni and the family of the late William M. Gaines, the pioneering genre comics publisher will relaunch in summer 2024 with two news series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The week's bestselling books, Feb. 11

The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-02-07 14:00:38 UTC ]
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Audiobook Review: ‘Collision of Power,’ by Martin Baron

The actor reads “Collision of Power,” a new memoir by the famed former editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-02-02 10:00:17 UTC ]
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5 New Books to Read for Black History Month

These books by Black authors include moving explorations of the past, bold visions of the future, and sage advice for the present. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Two novelists have cut ties with PEN over its Mayim Bialik event and Gaza silence.

Two prominent novelists have broken with PEN America over the organization’s decision to platform controversial actor and outspoken ceasefire opponent Mayim Bialik, as well as its relative silence on the unfolding genocide in Gaza (which so far has claimed the lives of at least 120 writers,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-01-31 20:56:06 UTC ]
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A father goes missing. Then a brother too. In this 'Great Forest,' a fraught return home

The debut novel from Leo Vardiashvili, 'Hard by a Great Forest,' has its commercial trappings but ultimately lands with lyrical and heartbreaking resonance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-01-31 18:43:16 UTC ]
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RBmedia Acquires Berrett-Koehler's Audiobook Publishing Business

Audiobook publisher RBmedia has acquired Berrett-Koehler’s audiobook publishing business, including its backlist, and will publish audiobook editions of new Berrett-Koehler titles under its business audiobook brand, Ascent Audio, beginning this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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