Audio

Earlier this year, Spotify put out a call for authors to submit their short-form stories for consideration as a Spotify exclusive audiobook.

Audible says they’re curating their Plus catalog in a way that maintains the value of the credit system, but authors fear that’s not the case.

Spotify has launched a “Big on BookTok” landing page offering audiobook playlists based on viral book recommendations on TikTok.

Now authors can sell their AI-generated audiobooks directly through ElevenReader and earn a 60 percent royalty rate.

The Portland, Oregon-based company partners with Hume AI and ElevenLabs to offer authors AI-generated voices or human voice clones.

As of August 1, Findaway has been carved off from Spotify and is independent once again, this time under the name INaudio.

A federal judge ruled that Amazon must face a lawsuit that accuses them of monopolizing the retail market for audiobooks.

Audiobook sales revenue increased 13 percent in 2024 versus the prior year, according to the Audio Publishers Association Sales Survey.

Audible will offer AI production technology to select publishers, first for narration and later for translated narration.

They’re looking for adult romance, mystery/thriller, and sci-fi/fantasy stories of 10,000 to 20,000 words, written specifically for audio.

The Spoken World podcast launched last week and will provide in-depth coverage of the global audiobook market.

They’ve just launched ElevenReader Publishing, where authors can create and sell AI-narrated audiobooks for free through their app.

Simon Maverick will mostly work with self-published authors to produce original audiobooks and is planning 50 titles in its first year.

Learn about the UK’s bestselling books every month from the folks who work at Nielsen BookScan.

Oprah will announce her new monthly book selections on a new companion podcast sponsored by Starbucks.

Spotify for Authors is a new feature from Spotify to help both authors and publishers better understand their audience on Spotify.

Perhaps in response to Spotify, Amazon Music subscribers in the US, UK, and Canada can listen to one full audiobook per month.

During the first seven months of this year, the category in the US has grown by 25 percent in dollars versus last year’s 12 to 15 percent.

The first guests include AJ Jacobs on living Constitutionally, Claire Messud on writing family, and Johanna Copeland on creation in the time of motherhood.

One in two Australian audiobook consumers uses Spotify as of 2024, heavily learning toward younger and female audiobook consumers.

Libraries have typically been able only to license ebooks and audiobooks from publishers and aggregators, with no option to buy.

After a challenging 2023, Big Five publisher HarperCollins is enjoying a more successful fiscal 2024.

Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster) is launching Lemonada Books to publish books based on podcasts coming out of Lemonada Media.

Open Road Integrated Media has launched Open Book, a podcast hosted by Open Road’s CEO, David Steinberger.

More than 1,000 audiobooks from about 100 independent publishers (who use Ingram to distribute) will now be available via Spotify.