Audiobook gross sales have been the fastest-growing phase in digital publishing for the previous 5 years. In 2023, audiobook gross sales had been up 14.9%, reaching $864.0 million in income. Nevertheless, 2024 is about to be a banner 12 months, as the primary ten months of 2024 generated $883.4 million in income. The worldwide audiobook market is about to develop to $35.05 billion by 2030.
Audiobooks have gotten extra mainstream. 38 p.c of American adults listened to an audiobook in 2024, up from the 35% reported in 2023. This rise indicators a rise in total consumption as effectively. Of essentially the most avid audiobook listeners, those that have listened to an audiobook within the final 12 months, the typical audiobook consumed was 6.8 titles within the 12 months, up from 6.3 in 2023. Of the broader group of those that had ever listened to an audiobook, the typical was 4.8 audiobooks listened to within the final 12 months, up from the 4.0 common in 2023.
One vital driving issue of audiobook gross sales has been subscription-based content material, resembling Audible, Scribd, Kobo, and Spotify. Subscriptions to audiobook companies proceed to develop, with 63% of those that listened within the final 12 months presently subscribing to at the very least one service. This share is up from the 62% reported in 2023.
Fast Information
- In 2023, the U.S. accounted for over 44% audiobook market.
- There are 200,000 audiobooks on Audible.
- Piracy can also be a priority for the business. 47% of those that listened to an audiobook final 12 months say they obtained one free of charge by means of YouTube or one other file-sharing web site.
- The variety of UK audiobook downloads elevated by 17% between 2022 and 2023, in keeping with knowledge from the Publishers Affiliation.
- Audiobook income rose 24% throughout the identical interval to £206m in 2023, reflecting a rise in audiobook downloads from 50m to 59m, the commerce physique mentioned.
- The European audiobook market is estimated to be value greater than $850 million and is projected to develop 18.6 p.c yearly.
- Most well-liked Machine to hearken to audiobooks; Smartphones, laptops and tablets.
- Spotify has mentioned that it has paid audiobook publishers “tens of thousands and thousands” since permitting customers 15 hours of audiobook listening in its Premium subscription bundle final autumn.
- Audiobooks are sometimes 28 MB or 10 hours lengthy.
Audible and AI
- Audible holds a 63.4% market share of the audiobook market in america.
- Audible is the business chief in producing income, incomes twice as a lot per audiobook bought as the remainder of the business. Nevertheless, Audible solely publishes 13.5% of the whole audiobooks annually.
- In 2024 Audible launched Digital Voice: A generic voice that may narrate books on Audible
- Additionally they unveiled AI voice replicas: Created by inviting skilled narrators to coach AI on their voices
- As of Could 2024, over 40,000 books on Audible are marked as having been created with AI.
- Audible’s aim is so as to add extra audiobooks to the service shortly and cheaply. Nevertheless, the initiative has raised purple flags for human narrators.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the previous fifteen years. Newspapers and web sites such because the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Publish and the New York Occasions have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
