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 ]
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The first outing for this Nielsen BookData-GfK study sees revenue up in many book markets, but rising prices contributing to that 2023 trend. The post Nielsen-GfK’s Pre-LBF ‘Global Book Market’ Report appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-07 18:44:01 UTC ]
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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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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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Spotify's... interesting pricing plans, it "It" books of March, and more of the day's bookish news: Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-01 21:43:16 UTC ]
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Spotify has added another subscription option. This time around, it's offering a plan that has little to do with music. The Audiobooks Access Tier (which is US-only for now) offers 15 hours of audiobook listening each month for $10. You'll have access to Spotify's library of more than 200,000... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 18:08:29 UTC ]
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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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Spotify has added a new option that gives users 15 hours to listen to audiobooks for $9.99—a dollar less than a Premium subscription, which offers the same 15 hours per month, plus ad-free music, for $10.99. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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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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New tools could finally help publishers stem the flow of counterfeit editions online. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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New tools could finally help publishers stem the flow of counterfeit editions online. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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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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10 Questions for Hwang Bo-reum, by Michelle Johnson Interviews [email protected] Tue, 02/20/2024 - 10:01 Photo by Seong Ji Min Clayhouse Inc.Hwang Bo-reum’s debut novel, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, translated by Shanna Tan, was published... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2024-02-20 16:01:47 UTC ]
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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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The streaming company says its payout model is competitive, but the Society of Authors has raised doubts about whether authors ultimately benefit Spotify has said that it has paid audiobook publishers “tens of millions” since allowing users 15 hours of audiobook listening in its Premium... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-01 16:08:34 UTC ]
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A market boosted by the elimination of sales tax on books, Taiwan is ready for a strong year at its upcoming international book exhibition. The post Taipei International Book Exhibition 2024: A Market Profile appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-01-30 19:49:02 UTC ]
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