Scribd restricts access to audiobook content

In the US, ebook subscription service Scribd will restrict its audiobook content by introducing a two-tiered service, reports Publishers Weekly. Customers, who pay a monthly US$8.99 (A$12.55) membership fee, will only have unlimited access to a select set of monthly rotating titles. They will also be given one monthly credit to access an audiobook from another restricted set of titles, but will need to pay US$8.99 per title to access any further audiobooks from the restricted list. The changes will be made effective on 20 September. Scribd CEO Trip Adler said the change ‘will not only allow us to continue to grow our audiobook catalog in a sustainable way, but will also allow us to focus on even more content deals and offerings we know [customers] will love’. However, Publishers Weekly reports that the change appears to be ‘another effort to curb the access of audiobook listeners who are undermining the subscription model by consuming too much’. In July, Scribd dramatically cut its list of approximately one million romance titles, citing the difficult economics of serving an audience with ‘voracious reading habits’.

Category: International news