Last month, Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, launched a multimedia subscription service called RTL+, meant to compete with Netflix in Germany. The service will offer video, audio, magazines, and books from across Bertelsmann’s divisions. Bertelsmann already offers a video streaming service, which has 3.4 million subscribers; the “plus” service will include magazines from its Gruner + Jahr division and audiobooks from Penguin Random House Germany.
Of course, this creates a potential dilemma, as Penguin Random House has been notably opposed to subscription models for digital books. For now, RTL+ will offer audiobooks only from the Germany catalog and limit users to one audiobook per month, with payment and terms comparable to the US-based Audible credit-based service. Learn more.
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.
