Spotify adds Bonnier and Blackstone audiobooks
Spotify has announced that audiobooks from Bonnier Books UK and Blackstone Publishing have been added to the platform’s Premium audiobook offering. In announcing the ‘two new publishing partners’, Spotify audiobook...
Nielsen report: over a third of listeners new to audiobooks
A new report from Nielsen Book Australia has found that 37% of Australian audiobook consumers began listening to audiobooks for the first time in the past year. The report also...
Audible partners with arts bodies for new Australian content
Audiobook publisher Audible has partnered with Create NSW and Screen NSW to offer a new $240,000 podcast opportunity. The Frequency program will ‘support the development of up to eight new...
A&U, Wavesound to partner on audiobooks
The majority of new Allen & Unwin titles will be produced as audiobooks under a new partnership between the publisher and Wavesound. The co-publishing program will initially see A&U and...
UK audiobook boom continuing with 13% growth in 2018
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan reports that audiobooks have grown by 13% in volume during 2018. At the London Book Fair (LBF) Quantum Conference, Nielsen said that the audiobook boom...
‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ wins Audie award
The audiobook edition of Heather Morris' novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz (narrated by Richard Armitage, Bolinda, released in the US by HarperAudio) has won the 2019 Audie Award for fiction....
61% of Canadian publishers are producing audiobooks, up from 16% in 2015
In Canada, 61% of publishers are producing audiobooks, up from 16% in 2015. According to a recent study on audiobook use published by BookNet Canada, the average audiobook listener in...
Audible UK revenue grows by 45%
Audible UK has reported a 45% growth in revenue in 2017 to £97 million (A$174.4m), up from £67.1 million (A$120.7m) in the previous year, reports the Bookseller. According to accounts filed...
US audiobook sales up 22.7% in 2017
In the US, a new report by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has found that audiobook sales experienced another consecutive year of double-digit growth, estimating that sales in 2017 were...
PLR to extend to ebooks and audio in UK
In the UK, Public Lending Rights (PLR) will be extended to include ebooks and audiobooks borrowed from libraries, reports the Bookseller. Effective from 1 July, the change means authors will...
Audible partners with Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine
In the US, Audible has announced a partnership with Hello Sunshine, the cross-platform media brand founded by Reese Witherspoon that is dedicated to producing female-driven content, reports Publishers Weekly. Reese’s...
‘Netflix for books’ launches in Australia
A new ebook and audiobook membership service has launched in Australia, after launching in the UK last November. Using a membership-based model, Bookchoice allows users to download up to eight...
‘The Water Diviner’ shortlisted for Audie Award
The audiobook edition of The Water Diviner (Andrew Anastasios & Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios, narrated by Jack Thompson, Bolinda) is a finalist in the Audiobook of the Year category in the US-based...
Hachette launches audiobook list
Hachette Australia has launched its own audiobook list under the Hachette Audio imprint. Hachette joint managing director Justin Ractliffe told Books+Publishing that the publisher will produce a selection of audiobooks using ‘Australian talent’. The titles will be available as...
In your ear: Humphrey Bower shares his career journey
Humphrey Bower is one of Australia’s most prolific audiobook narrators. He shares his career journey.My father read to me when I was a child, and I read to my kids...
Penguin Random House launches audio app
Penguin Random House has launched a new audio app called ‘Volumes’, reports Galleycat. The free app allows readers to listen to audio clips from authors including Jodi Picoult, Sophie Kinsella...
Audible launches free audiobook promotion on its Australian store
Amazon-owned audiobook retailer Audible has launched a promotion on its Australian website offering a free audiobook collection.The audible.com.au site, which went live on 15 January, is offering the free bundled audiobook #ListenUp Collection,...
Germany lowers audiobooks VAT to 7%, pushes for lower ebook VAT
The German government has cut its value added tax (VAT) on audiobooks from 19% to 7%, and is campaigning to reduce the VAT on ebooks to the same level, reports the...
Bolinda expands international audiobook range
Bolinda is set to triple its audiobook output following an acquisitions push in the UK.Bolinda announced in April that it has acquired audiobook rights for a number of high-profile international...
Shelf talk: Listen up
2014 is shaping up as a glorious year for audiobooks, with long-awaited classics and some up-to-the-minute new releases. Jeffrey Archer’s Be Careful What You Wish For (Macmillan Digital Audio, March),...