Swedish audiobook company Storytel has acquired the audiobook streaming arm of Finnish bookstore chain Suomalainen Kirjakauppa, which is owned by the Otava Group. Subscribers to the audiobook business, Suomalainen Plus, will be merged into Storytel’s user base. Storytel ceo Johannes Larcher said, “This agreement strengthens Storytel’s position in the vibrant Finnish market and as the Nordic market leader. We are also very pleased to deepen our relationship with the leading Finnish publishing and media owner Otava Ltd, who we had the pleasure of welcoming as a new shareholder in connection with our directed share issue in November.”
Audio
Libro.fm Expands To UK, Australia, And New Zealand
Digital audiobook platform Libro.fm is expanding to the UK, Australia, and New Zealand this July. Ahead of the launch, the company has invited booksellers in the new territories to join their Audiobook Listening Copy program and preregister for their shop for free. Madison Mullen, product manager, Libro.fm, said in a release, “In 2022, 29 percent of new visitors to our website were from outside the US, so we know that there are readers all around the world who are eager to support their local bookshops with their audiobook purchases. We have six years of experience working with 12,000+ booksellers across […]
Findaway Voices to Stop Licensing Audiobooks for AI Learning
After a conversation with SAG-AFTRA, audiobook creation service Findaway Voices has agreed to “halt” licensing audiobook files to Apple for AI learning, Writer Beware reports. Writers noticed a clause in their Findaway Voices contract that stipulates that Apple can use their work “for machine learning training and models”–without paying for the license–unless the author opts out. The discovery ties into far-reaching questions about generative AI, including how–or even if–tech companies acquire permissions to use content, inaccuracies in AI output, and the creators that AI services may displace. As a third-party license, it also may be in conflict with authors’ distribution […]
Storytel Gains 22 Percent in 2022, Suspends Guidance
Swedish streaming company Storytel released their official year-end earnings report after a brief quarterly update in January, with net sales up 22 percent in 2022 to SEK3.2 billion ($293 million), due to the acquisition of Audiobooks.com, organic growth, and positive foreign exchange. Operating loss was SEK(389) million compared to SEK(350) million last year. The company said that expenses in the period include the purchase of Audiobooks.com, a strategic shift and reorganization in the beginning of the year “to focus on profitable growth”, and an SEK8.3 million severance payment to former ceo Jonas Tellander. EBITDA was SEK(56.5) million. In personnel news, […]
Audio: Obamas to Audible; Playaway to PRH
Audible will release taped conversations from Michelle Obama’s THE LIGHT WE CARRY tour as an eight-episode podcast. Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast will air weekly, starting on March 7, and available exclusively on Audible for two weeks before opening up to other streaming platforms. This marks the first release after the Obamas’ Higher Ground productions moved from Spotify to Audible last year. A press release notes that it is an “exclusive, worldwide, multi-project, multi-year first-look production deal between Audible and Higher Ground.” “After the remarkable reception to The Michelle Obama Podcast [produced by Spotify], we’re excited to bring listeners more […]
Audio: Google Play Books Partners With Bookwire on AI-Narrated Audiobooks
Google Play Books has partnered with digital book company Bookwire on AI-created audiobooks in English, Spanish, German, French and Brazilian Portuguese books. Bookwire’s audiobook service WAY (We Audiobook You) allows Google Play Books customers to “create auto-narrated audiobooks within the framework of the WAY service and, as usual, takes over the complete production and quality assurance of these audiobooks.” They write in a release that the service is not intended to replace human narrators, “but as an addition to Bookwire’s audiobook production offering.” Solveij Krause, team lead business development audio at Bookwire, said, “We are happy that in cooperation with […]