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 ]
Local fans of the "Harry Potter" books and films series are gearing up this weekend for something they've long yearned for — one more journey to the wizarding world."Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," a book edition of a play debuting this weekend at London's West End Palace Theatre, will be... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun
[ Baltimore Sun | 2016-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Katherine Cowdrey on returning to the magic of Harry Potter as an adult with the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" play. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reviews for the upcoming 'Potter' stage play are so far very positive. What about the show has so impressed reviewers? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The verdict is in for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", with reviewers hailing the two-part play "a dazzling duel of light and dark" (the Guardian), "a triumph" (the Telegraph), and "a magical experience tailor made for the stage, filled to the brim with fan service" (the Independent). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter fans, booksellers, and librarians are getting ready to party like it's 2007: Scholastic is prepping to release 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two' on July 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling's Harry Potter series tops a BBC Local Radio poll of books that adults say children should read. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers are hoping that the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child later this month will offset the negative impact economic uncertainty has had on footfall following the Brexit vote. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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They were supposed to be a secret, but when word leaked that the new "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" in London was using real owls during performances, fans of the saga went wild on social media. Alas, the owls have officially flown the coop before the blockbuster West End production... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Theatre critics have responded enthusiastically to the first part of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which previewed at London’s Palace theatre last night (7th June). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers are plotting a range of spellbinding evenings across the UK ahead of the release of JK Rowling’s "eighth Harry Potter book”, the play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s been 19 years since the events of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and boy does it show. The first images of upcoming West End stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” written by English playwright Jack Thorne and based on a story from Thorne and “Potter” scribe J.K. Rowling,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of JK Rowling’s much-loved books jump 133%, boosted by illustrated edition, contributing to 8% profit rise at publisherHarry Potter is still working his magic for the publisher Bloomsbury after nearly 20 years, with sales more than doubling over the past year thanks to a new illustrated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Big Green Bookshop is to donate all profits from the sales of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) to local schools to enable them to buy books for their libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Actor and writer Stephen Fry has decried the deteriorating state of the public library service, saying that libraries need to be protected as they "save lives". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British surveillance agency GCHQ intervened with the launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A chair that author JK Rowling sat on while writing the first two Harry Potter books is sold at a New York auction for nearly $400,000 (£283,000). Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chair given free to JK Rowling that she used while writing the first two Harry Potter novels in Edinburgh council flat has been auctioned in New York An oak chair that JK Rowling used while writing the first two books of the Harry Potter series has sold for $394,000 (£278,000).The 1930s chair... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday is likely to draw huge crowds, including adults who grew up reading the books by J.K. Rowling and teens who watched the eight movies that followed. If you plan to brave the Potterfest, here are some... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood is about to debut. After 2 1/2 years of construction, Wizarding World is set for its grand opening Thursday morning. Leading up to that, a red carpet event tonight will include several stars from the "Harry Potter" films, and more... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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