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 ]
It's not just multi-platform gaming giants suing cheaters. Niantic has sued members of Global++ for allegedly offering "unauthorized derivative" (read: hacked) versions of Pokémon Go, Ingress and even the still-in-beta Harry Potter: Wizards U... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-06-16 23:04:00 UTC ]
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Actress Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley, meets children who are upcycling their toys. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2019-06-14 00:00:33 UTC ]
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A little under two years after its five-season run ended on BBC America, Orphan Black is returning with a bang, and probably loads more sound effects. Fiction publishing startup Serial Box is reviving the beloved sci-fi show this summer as a ten-epis... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-06-13 22:51:00 UTC ]
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Amanda Foster, who has also been in Rogue One and Harry Potter, hopes to shoot for England. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2019-06-13 08:48:58 UTC ]
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Angelica Gonzalez used to read about a book a year. Then she discovered the Libby app, which allows anyone with a Los Angeles Public Library card to borrow e-books, audiobooks and other electronic media — for free. Now Gonzalez regularly checks out titles and transfers them to her Kindle.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-06-12 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Are you a Harry Potter fan who also wears shoes? Harry Potter, but make it fashion.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-06-07 12:17:16 UTC ]
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The corporate home of Wonder Woman, Harry Potter and “Friends” weighs how its streaming service can compete on price with Disney, Netflix and Amazon. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-03 00:03:36 UTC ]
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By 2100 there could be 4.9bn dead users on Facebook. So who controls our digital legacy after we have gone? As Black Mirror returns, we delve into the issueAndrew Scott Q&A: ‘I never get angrier than with passwords or apps’Esther Earl never meant to tweet after she died. On 25 August 2010,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-06-02 05:00:37 UTC ]
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“Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts” and “A Journey Through Potions and Herbology” are arriving in late June. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-05-31 18:46:34 UTC ]
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No invitation to Hogwarts required. When Harry Potter first comes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is stunned to see the portraits that line the school’s storied stone walls move and talk. Thanks to artificial intelligence, that just might be a reality some day.Read Full Story Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-05-23 12:27:04 UTC ]
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There is always something magical to uncover in the world of Harry Potter, which is the ultimate premise behind “The Making of Harry Potter” on the Warner Bros. studio tour near London, an experience that continues to reveal new secrets from the film franchise. The tour’s latest — and largest —... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A rare first edition of a "Harry Potter" book featuring a misspelled title fetched about $90,000 at an auction last week, the Independent reported Friday. The copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (published in the U.S. as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), the first book in... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An official behind-the-scenes book of the record-breaking play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts One and Two" will be published by Little, Brown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After successful collections for Harry Potter, Looney Tunes and Trolls, winter has come to the Danielle Nicole brand. Founder and Ellicott City native Danielle DiFerdinando has joined forces with HBO for GOT X DN, a collection inspired by the book and TV series “Game of Thrones.” In hues of red,... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Edtech startup KalamTech has created an app series about great thinkers from history, voiced by Stephen Fry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In his annual year-end letter to staff, Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle cited the success of 'Becoming', a long list of literary awards and best book citations, and the continued global growth of audiobook sales as 2018 highlights. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s called “Crimes New Roman.” Harry Potter, the beloved children’s books by J.K. Rowling, is now a bona fide franchise, with books, theme parks, and countless movies. The latest? The Crimes of Grindelwald, a sequel to the spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It’s playing in movie... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2018-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," Virginia Woolf wrote in a famous 1929 essay. British businessman Arron Banks apparently disagrees, and he incurred the wrath of fans of "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling after mocking the author on Twitter for having... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Warner Bros.' "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" met expectations in winning the box office this weekend, opening in first place with $62.2 million, according to figures from measurement firm Comscore. The "Harry Potter" prequel, a follow-up to 2016's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook sales are continuing to rocket, with a number of the biggest publishers in the space confirming they are still experiencing “strong double-digit growth” year on year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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