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 today? Is it a book? Is it a play? Or is it becoming something else entirely? What is clear is that a jostle for market dominance is driving it into new dimensions. The streaming platform Spotify followed its move into podcasting two years ago with the launch of an audiobooks business. Though it has yet to start making its own recordings, last autumn it made a deal for 200,000 audiobooks to be available to its premium users.Not to be outdone, Amazon-owned Audible – accustomed to being the market leader – upped its game, hiring the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to record multi-voice versions of the Dickens novels Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, and announcing last month that it had reached an agreement for a recording of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, voiced by more than 100 actors and featuring a “groundbreaking new soundscape”. The new Potter audiobooks, it said, would not usurp but “sit alongside and complement” conventional recordings by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, which Audible also hosts. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-10 17:25:03 UTC ]
These video game and audiobook pairings complement each other for the ideal playing and listening experience. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-10 10:34:00 UTC ]
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If your fingers are itching to put together a puzzle and you're delighted by bookish things, get into these bookish jigsaw puzzles.- Jamie Canaves Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is marking its seventh anniversary at London’s Palace Theatre Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2023-07-30 06:50:32 UTC ]
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The seven-year-old Seattle-based Libro.fm opens a Bookshop.org-style audiobook-selling service in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The post Libro.fm Opens, Audiobook Sales Through Local Bookstores appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-07-26 13:34:20 UTC ]
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In what is likely a record price for an audiobook publisher, KKR, the private equity firm that owns RBmedia—and a rumored contender to buy S&S—is selling the company for an alleged $1 billion sum. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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This week's best tech deals include a couple of all-time lows on older but still worthwhile Apple gadgets, with the 9th-gen iPad on sale for $250 and the M1-powered MacBook Air available for $750. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a solid value for those in need of a cheap media streamer at... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-21 15:15:52 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Day 2023 is almost here, but you can still snag some early deals before the two-day shopping event begins in earnest. We've rounded up the best early Prime Day deals we can find below. Remember that you'll need to subscribe to Prime to take advantage of many (but not all) of the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-10 18:45:44 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Day 2023 is a few days away on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own devices... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-09 13:05:03 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Day 2023 is a few days away on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own devices... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-07 14:29:48 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Day 2023 is one week away on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own devices and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-04 12:48:53 UTC ]
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The former president's lawyers contend that he was speaking in his personal capacity, not as president of the United States, when he gave a series or recorded interviews later used in the 2022 audiobook 'The Trump Tapes.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-07-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2023 will begin on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-30 15:20:45 UTC ]
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First edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone bought by UK book collector goes up for auction next weekIt is a book that has certainly lived up to its name: a rare edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone bought for 30p could fetch up to £5,000 at auction.The first novel... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-30 09:29:28 UTC ]
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Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2023 will begin on July 11th, but you don't have to wait until then to get a good deal. The company has started to roll out a few early Prime Day deals before the two-day shopping event officially commences, including, as expected, several discounts on its own... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-23 16:30:09 UTC ]
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You can get your kid a new e-reader or tablet at a discount from Amazon right now if you're looking to stoke their love of reading or just simply want to get them a new toy. The 8GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids is currently on sale for $90 for Prime members, which is 44 percent off its list price of... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-21 10:55:36 UTC ]
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Rumors about a Spotify HiFi tier have been around since at least 2017, and the company even announced plans to launch such a feature in 2021 — only to back off the next year. Now, the company may finally be ready to launch a high-fidelity plan (dubbed "Supremium" internally) that would be its... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-20 12:38:47 UTC ]
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Storytel invests in ElevenLabs, looking to offer automated audiobook readings and 'voice switching' for users between preferred voices. The post ‘AI Voices’ in Audiobooks: Storytel in ElevenLabs Partnership appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-06-13 21:58:52 UTC ]
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In 1926, with the General Strike looming and the right warning of a Bolshevik revolution, the BBC found itself in a dreadful dilemma. Writer Jack Thorne on why he turned this into ‘a love letter to people in authority’Jack Thorne is a furiously busy scriptwriter and, although he’s celebrated for... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-05 07:00:22 UTC ]
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The Harry Potter publisher ascribes its record profits to a hunger for affordable diversion. That’s the magic of booksIn the gloom of a UK economy teetering on the edge of recession, a glittering puff of smoke wafted up last week from the publisher that will for ever be associated with Harry... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-04 17:25:05 UTC ]
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Publishers are developing new strategies and leveraging existing strengths in the ever-evolving audiobook market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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