The Audio Publishers Association and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair are mapping audio activity and interest
None of our loyal Hot Sheet readers is unaware of the rising importance of audio in the publishing industry. For most of the years in which we’ve been reporting on the fast-growing popularity of audiobooks, however, we’ve generally been limited to the developing trends in the USA and UK, where the most consistent and familiar tracking systems are in place.
The Audio Publishers Association (APA) is the leading service organization for the format, both for the publishing community as it studies consumer interests and trends in the field and the professional research entity for the sector. In a meeting with the APA’s executive director, Michele Cobb, at this week’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy, we’ve learned of a new effort the APA has made in collaboration with the fair’s organizers.
The goal of the effort: to get a better sense for how audio is doing in other markets of the world. As we reported in our last edition, the interest at the London Book Fair was high. But it’s not high everywhere. For example, at the Taipei International Book Exhibition in February, Taiwanese publishers told us that interest in audiobooks (and ebooks) remains almost negligible for their readership, despite the relative tech sophistication of the market.
Cobb cautions us that the APA is in the early stages of development for this new research. In some markets there are good sources in place; in others they’re being developed. But she has given us permission, following her Bologna presentation, to share some of the top-level observations.
First, Cobb and her colleagues called out three important macro areas for the global audiobook map to date:
- the US, with some $2.5 billion in estimated consumer spend
- Europe, with around $500 million in spend
- China, close behind Europe, with $470 million in spend on audiobooks
In terms of audio titles produced in local languages:
- In the US, some 46,000 titles are produced per year, with about 375,000 now available in the market.
- In the Nordic countries, around 5,800 titles are produced on an annual basis in local languages, with a total of around 32,000 available.
- In China, the research sees about 7,000 titles made annually, with roughly 25,000 available all told at this point.
In growth in the same major areas, from 2016 to 2017, the research shows:
- in the US, a rise of 22 percent in terms of units, 33 percent by value
- in the Nordic countries, about 60 percent growth in units sold (no value comparison available)
- in China, a growth of 22 percent it terms of units, the same as in the US (no value comparison available)
Regarding the Nordic and Chinese regions:
- In China, online audiobook platforms such as Ximalaya reported drawing as many as 40 million users daily at the end of 2018. Much of the content seems to be educational.
- The Nordic countries show the highest penetration rate for audio in Europe, with Sweden showing the highest such rate in the world.
Bottom line: At this early stage in the research, France and Russia are seen as developing markets, and Spain, Italy, and India are emerging markets. Sheer available content, Cobb reports, seems to be the main driver in how quickly a newer market may be warming up to audio. She reminds us that the market is not just books: the availability of plays, poems, dramatizations, and original work all bolster a younger audio market’s development.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
