Since Spotify started offering US premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening a month at no extra cost nearly a year ago, we know the company has been putting real money into the hands of publishers and authors, marking one of the few initiatives in our world from a big tech player that actually seems to have grown the market. (When Spotify launched a regular, a la carte audiobook sales program the year before, the impact was minor at best.) Digital audio had been growing a lovely 12 to 15 percent a year by industry statistics and through the first […]
Audio
Spotify Expands Audiobooks to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg
At an event in Paris, Spotify announced an expansion of their audiobooks efforts, now providing premium subscribers in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg with 12 hours of included free audiobook listening every month. Managing Director, Spotify Western Europe Antoine Monin says in the announcement, “Spotify’s reach presents a significant opportunity to expand the audiobooks market across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.” He indicates they have added 15,000 French and 15,000 Dutch and Flemish titles to their catalog. Spotify launched their offering of free audiobook listening a year ago, and they say in the release, “While it’s still early […]
Audible Launches New Royalties Model
Audible announced a new model for paying authors and publishers, that will allow titles in all Audible’s membership offerings to earn royalties. They write, “Now more titles—including those currently in Audible Plus, Audible’s all-you-can-listen offering—can generate royalty payments.” The way the royalties will be calculated is as follows: “Audible takes a member’s plan value (Plus or Premium Plus) and adds the value of any additional credits used, then divides that value among the titles the member listened to over the course of the month. That figure, multiplied by the contractual royalty rate, comprises a creator’s royalty payment.” Additionally, Audible will […]
Acquisitions: RBmedia to Acquire Dreamscape Media
RBmedia has an agreement to acquire audiobook publisher Dreamscape Media, which includes Dreamscape Publishing and Dreamscape Select. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024. Dreamscape produces and distributes audiobooks in 60 countries, and also provides services to self-published authors looking to create audiobooks. Founded in 2010, Dreamscape has a catalog of over 7,000 audiobooks. The company said previously it had sales of $30 million in 2023, up from $23.5 million in 2022. RBmedia ceo Michael Paull said in a release, “The acquisition of Dreamscape will give RBmedia additional depth in key genres and enable us […]
Spotify Drops Audiobooks From New, Lowest-Priced Tier
In keeping with plans announced in March, Spotify has increased its prices in the US, with the premium tier, which includes 15 hours of audiobooks per month, now costing $11.99. They have also introduced a new Basic plan for $10.99, without any audiobooks. Back in March, they debuted an Audiobook Access Tier for $9.99, which gets listeners 15 hours of books monthly, and music with ads.
Self-Published Author Sues Amazon Over Audiobook Monopoly
Romance author Christine DeMaio, who writes as CD Reiss, has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that the retail giant’s dominance in audiobook sales eliminates competition and leads to supracompetitive pricing for self-published authors. The suit is filed by class-action law firm Hagens Berman, which was the first to bring the ebook price fixing suit against publishers and Apple in 2011. (Since then, less successfully, the firm has filed suits against Amazon and the large trade publishers over the retailer’s ebook monopoly.) The filing states that Amazon, through the Audible ACX program, charges independent authors a fee […]