Last month, Bertelsmann unveiled the first part of an ambitious digital multi-media subscription service in Germany from their giant broadcasting subsidiary, called RTL+. Starting with a rebranded version of their previous service streaming service, by the second quarter of next year the new multi-media subscription will combine “video, audio, magazine, and book publishing assets” from […]
Audio
Spotify to Acquire Findaway and Storytel Will Buy Audiobooks.com
Two big acquisitions will fuel hopes for players of scale to challenge Audible’s dominance in core markets. Spotify will acquire distributor Findaway as part of their goal to develop a meaningful presence in the audiobooks market, pending regulatory approval. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021; the terms were not […]
Zauner Tops Libro.fm’s Bestselling Audiobooks of the Year
Libro.fm announced their top 10 audiobooks of 2021, “based on sales through 1,500+ independent bookstore partners.” Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, narrated by Michelle Zauner (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group) The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, narrated by Rebecca Lowman (Simon & Schuster Audio) Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins […]
Swedish Study Finds Print Bestsellers Are Longer, More Complex Than Top Audio Titles
In a paper published in the Journal of Cultural Analytics, Karl Berglund and Mads Dahllöf of Uppsala University in Sweden compared bestselling print and audiobooks and found marked differences in the top titles in each format. Berglund and Dahllöf analyzed print bestsellers and the most popular digital audiobooks on subscription platforms (“beststreamers”) published in Sweden […]
Storytel Keeps Growing, But Will Be At Lower End of 2021 Guidance
Storytel reported third quarter results on Friday, with continued strong growth, including an increase of 19 percent in streaming sales and 27 percent in their subscriber base. But full year projections are now at the lower end of the revised guidance given last quarter, sending shares down 17 percent in a short trading day in […]
DeepZen Partners With Ingram on AI-Produced Audiobooks
UK AI start-up DeepZen has partnered with Ingram Content Group to provide AI-generated text-to-speech audiobooks. DeepZen explains in their release that they have licensed voices from voice actors and narrators, “capturing all of the elements of the human voice, such as pacing and intonation, and a wide range of emotions that produce more realistic speech […]