Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm

Linda Lee Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm

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More information: buchmesse.de/audio 1 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm Abstract

Audiobooks are the current darling of today’s publishing industry. This paper will examine the trends shaping today’s audiobook market as well as look at what the future may hold for the industry in the era of increasing audio proliferation. In considering new sales and distribution models, this paper looks to illuminate the different models currently available and how they are supporting and shaping the audiobook market’s growth.

The paper is written in partnership with Zebralution, which was founded in 2004 as the first digital distributor for independent music labels in Europe and entered the audiobook market in 2010. Zebralution has gathered interesting data regarding consumer behaviors, which can be used to understand what is driving market growth. Since there is no international standard in data collection and some online retailers withhold sales data as proprietary information, the data provided by Zebralution gives a useful but admittedly partial snapshot at one segment of the consumer market, hoping that publishers and further interested parties will be able to use this information as guidance for their future publishing plans.

Table of Contents

1. An overall look at the global market today and factors that are driving growth THE MARKET TODAY...... 3 TRENDS ...... 3 TECHNOLOGY ...... 4 SIZE OF MARKET ...... 5 DISTRIBUTION ...... 6

2. Consumer behaviors CONSUMER TRENDS ...... 7 HOW THE CORONAVIRUS IMPACTS THE AUDIOBOOK USAGE ...... 10

3. A look at the future FUTURE TRENDS ...... 11 Technology ...... 11 Demographics ...... 11 Distribution ...... 11 Other trends ...... 12 Conclusion ...... 13

4. Sources ...... 14

About the author ...... 16

About the data partner ...... 16

Imprint ...... 16

2 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 1. An overall look at the global market today and factors that are driving growth

THE MARKET TODAY

While audiobooks are still a is Canada. More than 61% of Cana- NEW SALES MODELS: relatively small segment of the book dian publishers are now producing With this growth comes more publishing market when compared digital audiobooks — up from 37% in diversification in digital delivery with print and e-books, worldwide 2016.4 sales models, resulting in the medium this slice of the publishing pie has becoming more accessible to a seen double-digit sales and market New Digital Distributors: greater range of users. The spread growth for at least the past 5+ years. A wave of new digital dis- of audiobooks to sites that previ- According to Deloitte, the global tributors has emerged in the past ously had primarily targeted music audiobook market is predicted decade, helping broaden the listeners, podcast listeners and e-book to grow by 25% in 2020 to $3.5 billion consumer reach of the format. readers (e.g. Spotify, Apple Music, USD and it is estimated that the While Audible (founded in 1995) YouTube Music, Deezer, Tencent, and number of current audiobook con- has dominated the audiobook Tidal) show just how widespread the sumers across the globe exceeds distribution market for more than audiobook phenomenon is – and half a billion.1 Gone are the days two decades, there have been many how it is capturing consumers that where audiobooks are relegated new audiobook services launched in were previously not considered to a niche market like large print, the past few years – either brand- ‘traditional audiobook readers’. For and publishers in Europe and else- new or as an extension of already example, Zebralution reported in where are increasingly attuned to existing digital delivery services for January 2020 more than 2 million the demands and desires of readers other formats like music. BookBeat, music streaming subscribers play- who listen to their offerings. Kobo, Nextory, Playster, Scribd and ing audiobooks.8 In total there Storytel are just some of the sub- were 310m subscribers to music scription streaming services adding centric services globally in the end revenue to traditional download of 2019 – a huge market that is only TRENDS models such as Audible. Many of beginning to be tapped.9 these new services are flourishing, Several trends have contributed showing double-digit growth (see to the market growth of audiobooks figure 1): which has also been fueled by changes in consumer habits in the Figure 1 US audiobook publishing way audiobooks are accessed and listened to: 5-year growth

Increased Title Count: Audiobook Titles Published Publishers are publishing more audiobook titles overall. According 2018 to a 2018 sales survey of members of the US Audio Publishers Associa- tion, title production from 2014-2018 2017 almost doubled2: Growth in titles is not just a US phenomenon but has 2016 been mirrored globally. Accord- ing to a report by Livres Canada in 2018, the number of titles being pub- 2015 lished globally has been skyrocket- ing.3 Many publishers are not only in- 2014 creasing the number of frontlist titles being simultaneously issued in print and audio, but they are also digging 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 into their backlists to find additional Source: 2018 APA Sales Survey Data from Management Practice Inc titles to release in the audio format.

Increased In-House Publishing: ⁄ Nextory: 94% in growth in Q1 of 2020 5 New User Experiences: More publishers are starting audio ⁄ Storytel — reporting a 45% increase With these new consumers come divisions vs. licensing out titles to in revenue in Q1 2020 for both changes to how audiobooks are audio production and distribution e-book and audiobook sales 6 experienced. Now augmenting companies. One country that has ⁄ BookBeat – grew by 114% to EUR traditional download models is the seen remarkable growth in this area 30 million (SEK 311 million) in 2019 7 growing popularity of Streaming-

3 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 1. An overall look at the global market today and factors that are driving growth

Books-On-Demand (SBOD) Models, Figure 2 which offer monthly subscriptions Device to reader-listeners. These new con- Audiobook streaming usage in % sumers are both more familiar and 100% 1% 2% 4% arguably more comfortable with 3% 7% streaming media than owning it. 4% 6% 90% 6% Streaming media does not place a 9% 6% file in a device’s memory and lowers 80% 11% 11% the barrier to access more content for a fixed price point, especially 70% through unlimited subscription services. It’s therefore not surprising to 60% see that audiobooks being available to consumers at more affordable 50% rates driving the growth of SBOD 83% 76% 77% models and increasing the number 40% of listeners. 30% 20% TECHNOLOGY 10% Growth is also being fueled by advances in and the spread of tech- 0% nology. In numerous surveys, con- Germany UK US sumers report that one of the Phone Tablet PC Connected Others reasons they like listening to audiobooks is that they can multi- Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, Data Q1 2020 based on streams task while listening, thus allowing them to ‘read’ more books. And as their territories, used by between 76% voice-activated convenience of these described below, advances in how and 83% of their subscribers. Tab- devices (“Alexa, play my audiobook”) audiobooks can be accessed lets were a distant second place has been a huge factor in how peo- are making multitasking easier than in all territories, but with double ple experience all forms of media. ever. the usage compared to PCs. While In a Content Marketing Institute the consumer bases for each of article it was predicted that in 2019 Ian Small, CEO of Audiobooks.com, these charts is not exactly compa- smart speakers would increasingly puts it this way: rable, they show similar results in the impact the global audiobook world, “What we know for sure is that con- preferences for devices used to listen with 24% of listeners saying they had nected devices and spaces are be- to audiobooks. listened on a smart speaker and coming more mainstream, and with five percent saying they listen most them, new listening opportunities in Smart Speakers often on a smart speaker.11 For smart new environments. With the more are also changing the game. It’s no speaker owners in the US market, recent adoption of smartwatches, exaggeration to suggest that the two out of three say they listen to at smart home speakers and other connected devices, audiobooks are Figure 3 able to integrate with people’s life- Usage by device styles more than ever before.“10 Device by territory in % At home use has quickly become the Smartphones most important location for listening. The ever-increasing IoT (Internet Bluetooth connected of Things) and proliferation of smart through speaker devices means that it has never been easier to listen to audiobooks. Desktop/laptop computer

Smartphones Tablet have become the number one device CD player consumers use to listen to audio. The following graph (figure 3) on the Portable MP3 player/iPod right side shows research from the US APA consumer survey of 2019: Voice-enabled A look at data from Zebralution’s wireless speaker subscription-based consumers from 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Germany, the US and the UK shows the phone was also dominant in all Source: 2019 APA Consumer Data from Edison Research

4 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 1. An overall look at the global market today and factors that are driving growth

least one audiobook or podcast a China’s market Much of this growth in revenue week on their device. 12 is second to the US, and it is gen- has been fueled by growth in In other global territories in 2019 erally agreed that the US and Chi- available titles – in 2019, the pub- it was reported that smart speakers na make up about 75% of the global lishers participating in a survey are most widely used in the UK, at audio market. According to a report expected to produce 2,300 new 22.4% of internet users, followed by in the Shanghai Daily, its market is titles in Spanish, representing a Germany (17.2%) and France (14.0%).13 expected to be about $1.15 billion 250% growth in 3 years.24 in 2020 – more than double its size in 2017.16 According to researcher ⁄ Nordic Countries (Sweden, iiMedia, China is expected to have Denmark, Finland, Norway) have 562 million audiobook users in 2020.17 a market estimated to be at In 2017 40% of the units sold were for $100 million.25 These countries children.18 lead the European audiobook market. In a tnps September 2018 Europe’s market report, digital subscriptions (pow- is about $500 million19: ered by audiobooks) were the fastest growing model in book ⁄ France: According to a March 2019 publishing in this territory, increas- report in The New Publishing ing by 36.9% over the prior year. Standard (tnps) newsletter, there According to Mark Williams (ed- are 7.7 million audiobook users in itor of tnps), there is the distinct Amanda D’Acierno, France and 51% of these are first possibility that in the not too dis- President and Publisher, timers.20 tant future, the preferred format Penguin Random House Audio At last year’s Frankfurt Audio Summit of book consumers in Scandinavia Publishing Group at Frankfurter Buchmesse, will be audio.26

Amanda D’Acierno sums up the tech- ⁄ In the UK, Deloitte has predicted nological changes affecting rapid that for 2020 audibooks will growth of audiobooks: generate revenues of £115 milion, “Digital technologies, from iPods, up 30% from 2018.27 UK sales have to smartphones, tablets, and smart doubled every year for the past speakers, have allowed audiobooks five years, while at the same time to reach anyone, anywhere, at any there has been a decline in the UK time. As more listeners adopted of print and e-book sales.28 the audio format, they formed new habits that went beyond the tradi- Other countries of interest to tional use case of listening on their watch as ripe for audiobook growth commutes and road trips: audio- include India because of its rich book devotees can and do listen Valérie Lévy-Soussan, tradition of oral storytelling coupled while doing the dishes, folding the founding director general, with the fact that it has one of the laundry, working on a craft project, Hachette Livre’s Audiolib highest daily commute times in the running on the treadmill or to wind world. Russia is also seen as having down before bed.” Valérie Lévy-Soussan stated that tremendous potential given its vast beginning in 2019, 14% of audio- geographical footprint and the book users in the French pop- fact that mobile applications have ulation are in the 15-and-older allowed audiobooks to reach remote SIZE OF MARKET age bracket, up two points cities that many books in print can’t compared to 2018.21 France is reach. The news is good when busi- The size of the global audiobook considered to be among Europe’s nesses enter emerging markets. market is difficult to gauge as sta- most rapidly developing markets.22 For example, Turkey has seen rap- tistics about the same data points id growth, with Storytel reporting a are hard to come by. Nevertheless, ⁄ Germany: In 2019 it was reported 315% increase in consumption in 2019 a sense of the size of the audio- that there were about 16 million only a year after launch.29 book market can be discerned from units sold annually with young known market statistics by territory. listeners driving “significant growth”. Germany is considered The United States one of the strongholds for audio- is the biggest market in the audiobooks in the European market.23 book segment with sales predicted to be at $1.5 billion in 2020.14 In data ⁄ Spain: According to the March from Edison’s 2019 Infinite Dial Survey15, 2019 study “Profile of the Spanish it was reported that 50% of the US Audiobook Market”, it was pre- population ages 12+ have listened to dicted that sales in Spain would an audiobook. be as high as 7 million Euros.

5 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 1. An overall look at the global market today and factors that are driving growth

DISTRIBUTION

In recent years there has been a shift towards new formats for consumers to access audiobooks. When audiobooks first came onto the scene their primary medium was physical CDs; but today the preferred format is digital, with the US Audio Publisher’s Association reporting in 2019 that 91.4% of audiobook revenues come from this format.30 Digital delivery subscription models that offer titles through download are still recognized as the dominant format for purchasing audiobooks, and the largest purveyor of this model is Audible with their credit distribution approach. In this model a subscriber Frankfurt Audio Stage at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019 pays a monthly fee for which they are granted ‘credits’ to use in their purchase of each book they want to read. Access to audiobooks through ⁄ Audiobooks are fighting for the Oliver Beldham, Account Manager streaming and unlimited subscription time of users against Netflix, mu- at Nielsen Book Research, has said: models is currently an up and coming sic and other media. Bringing au- “Audiobook growth is an encour- model beginning to make significant diobooks to users instead of users aging sign that the book consum- inroads in the market alongside to audiobooks brings direct value er in 2017 had a good appetite for the download/credit subscription to audiobooks and authors. content in many formats. The differ- or A la Carte purchase model ap- ing consumer profile also shows the proach and will continue to grow in ⁄ The volume of subscribers will reach that audio formats can have importance as a means of audio make up for the income lost on a among buyers beyond the tradi- distribution. These seem to be more single title purchase offered in the tional book customer.”31 widely accepted by European more established download sub- publishers vs. publishers in the West scription services. Claire Thorp, a reporter for BBC (primarily US and Canada) and the Culture, summed up the situation UK. ⁄ It allows for a greater reach to this way: young listeners who can’t afford “While audiobook sales are up Arguments in favor of download premium prices, and for a more and physical book sales down, it’s sales typically include: diverse diverse user base, coming not a given that the two things are from music-centric services as an related. In fact, audio is pulling in ⁄ The value of the audiobook is example. new audiences – whether that’s lis- upheld. teners who don’t usually buy books, ⁄ Authors are more fairly compen- Although audiobooks are still or readers listening to genres in an sated. in third place as a means of book audio format that they wouldn’t access behind print books and pick up in print.”32 Those in favor of streaming argue e-books, it is generally agreed that that: the growth of the global audiobook market is not detracting from other ⁄ The model supports heavily back- book format sales but in fact in- list, too, so people can easily dive creasing the overall book market. into the authors backlist and become a fan

6 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 2. Consumer behaviors

Understanding the needs of con- CONSUMER TRENDS title steadily increases on a month- sumers is a key element in grasp- In particular it confirms several in- to-month basis. ing the dynamics of any market, in- formative trends reflected by other The lack of publicly accessible cluding audiobooks. In light of the studies referenced previously: data has bedeviled the audio- popularity of unlimited subscrip- book industry since its inception. tion streaming models in the music ⁄ The youth demographic is However, one of the great gifts of industry a closer look at that trend dominant among audiobook streaming digital products is usage in audiobooks seems warranted. By users, with the 18-44 age range data. taking a closer look at one compa- as the ‘sweet spot’. ny’s data, we can get a better sense Nils Hollmann, of the potential for this format and ⁄ There exist similarities in user be- Managing Director Audiobooks, for audiobooks in general. haviors across territories. Zebralution: “Streaming-enabled data gath- The following findings have been ⁄ Popularity of Mystery, Thriller and pulled from Zebralution’s Audiobook Suspense as the most dominant Analytic. Their clients include some of genres. the biggest publishers in the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Germany. The company works globally with The data reveals other useful all relevant streaming and down- trends worth noting: load services, both ones from the book world like Apple Books, Google ⁄ the slight dominance of female to Books, BookBeat, Storytel and male users OverDrive as well as music-centric services like Spotify, Apple Music, ⁄ the categories of Fiction and YouTube, Deezer and Napster. While Self-Help being mainly female this data is from a distinct pool of driven, while male users prefer ering is giving us valuable insights Zebralution’s users, which includes Science Fiction and Comedy into customer behavior nearly in user data based on 2.24 million real-time to support our publishers’ subscribers from music-centric ⁄ highest completion rates in the decisions in content selection, streaming services from Germany genres of Teen/Young Adult and production and marketing. We are (2.0 million subscribers), the US Children’s content. not only seeing usage on a daily (165,000 subscribers) and the UK basis – we are able to see how many (73,000 subscribers) the findings mir- Perhaps the most interesting reve- users actually have been listening ror assumptions gleaned from other lation comes from the product life to a specific genre, author, narrator global news sources covered in this cycle data, revealing that over a or title, and also at which sections paper. 24-month period the popularity of a people stopped an audiobook and how many users completed a title. Figure 4: Furthermore, data about the de- Age mographics of our users and about Usage in the top 3 territories in % when, where and how content has been streamed provides further in- Q1 2020Q1Q1 2020 2020 formation about consumer habits.” 35% 35%35% 31% 31%31% A deeper dive into Zebralution’s 30% 29% 29%29% 30% 30% 28% 28%28% information will hopefully prove to be useful as well as inspire others to 25% 25%25% 23% 23%23% 22% 22%22% share their data more broadly. 21% 21%21% 21% 21%21%21%21%21% 20% 20%20% 19% 19%19% 18% 18%18% 18% 18%18% In looking at age, in all three territories audiobook streaming usage was 15% 15%15% 13% 13% 13% highest in the 25-34 age range, with 10%9%9%10%10% 10% 10%10% 9% 9% 9%9% the largest percentage of users fall- ing within the overall age range of 4% 5% 5%5% 4% 4% 3% 3%3% 18-44. (Figure 4) 1% 1%1% 0% 0%0% 0-17 0-170-17 18-2418-2418-24 25-3425-3425-34 35-4435-4435-44 45-5445-5445-54 >54> 54>54>54 years DEGermanyDEUKDE UKUSUK USUS Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, based on Streams Q2 2020

7 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 2. Consumer behaviors

In all three territories usage by gender reveals females make up slight- Figure 5: Gender ly more than 50% of the users, with Usage by gender in the top 3 territories in % their share increasing in the last year, particularly in the US. (Figure 5) (Q2 2019 vs. Q2 2020)

Q1 2019 Q2Q1Q1 2020 20192019 Q2Q1Q1Q1 2019 2020 20202019 Q1Q1 2020 2020 100% 100%100% 100%100%100%100% 100%100%100%

90% 90%90% 90%90%90%90% 90%90%90%

80% 80%80% 80%80%80%80% 80%80%80% 51% 51% 53% 51%51%51% 53%53%53% 54% 53% 54%55% 52% 53% 54%54%54%55% 52% 55%55%55% 52%52%52% 70% 70%70% 59% 70%70%70%70% 55% 59% 70%70%70% 59%59%59%

60% 60%60% 60%60%60%60% 60%60%60%

50% 50%50% 50%50%50%50% 50%50%50%

40% 40%40% 40%40%40%40% 40%40%40%

30% 30%30% 30%30%30%30% 30%30%30% 49% 49% 49%49%49% 46% 47% 46% 48% 47% 46%46%46% 48% 47%47%47% 48%48%48% 20% 45% 20%20%20% 45% 45%45%45% 20% 20% 41% 20% 41% 20%20%20% 41%41%41%

10% 10% 10%10%10% 10% 10% 10%10%10%

0% 0% 0%0% 0% 0% 0%0% DE UK US DEDE UKUK USUS DEDEDE UKUK USUSUS DEDEDE UKUKUK USUSUS Male Female Male Female MaleMaleMale FemaleFemaleFemaleFemale MaleMale FemaleFemaleFemale

Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, based on Streams Q2 2020

Looking at the two most popular genres, 55% of the Crime & Fiction Figure 6: and 49% of the Fiction users are 100% Genre by age 3% 4% Usage in % 6% 25-44 years old. 11% 11% 9% 10% 10% ⁄ 9%Fiction users are younger than 90% 16% 14% Crime & Thriller readers, and 20% 100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100% 3% 3%3%3%3%3%3%3%3% 14% 4%4%4%4%4%4%4%4%4% 6% 6%6%6%6%6%6%6%6% of the Fiction users are 18-24 years 11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11%11% 9% 9%9%9%9%9%9%9%9% 10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%9%10%9%9%9%9%9%9%9%9% 16% 80% 20% 18% old. 21% 19% 20% 90%90%90%90%90%90%90%90%90% 16%16%16%16%16%16%16%16%14%16%14%14%14%14%14%14%14%14% 100% 14%14%14%14%14%14%14%14%14% ⁄ Fantasy users are much young- 3%3% 18%4%4% 6%6% 11% 9%9% 10% 10% 16%9%9% 16%16%16%16%16%16%16%16% er than Sci-Fi users with twice 80%80%80%80%80%80%80%80%80% 11% 11%11% 20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20% 19% 10% 18%10%18%18%18%18%18%18%18%18% 70% 21%21%21%21%21%21%21%21%19%21%19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19% 20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20% 90% 16%16% 21%14% as high share of 18-24 and 61% 14%14% 18%18%18%18%18%18%18%18%18% 22%younger than 35. 38% 19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19% 16%16% 70%70%70%70%70%70%70%70%70%80% 19% 20%20% 18%18% 60% 21%21% 19%19% 22% 20%20% 26% (Figure 6) 23% 38%38%38%38%38%38%38%38%38% 18%18% 27% 22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22% 70% 19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19% 21% 19%19% 60%60%60%60%60%60%60%60%60% 22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22% 26%26%26%26%26%26%26%26%26% 50% 23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23%23% 27%27%27%27%27%27%27%27%27% 38%38%21%21%21%21%21%21%21%21%21% 22%22% 19% 60% 19% 22%22% 26% 50%50%50%50%50%50%50%50%50% 34% 26% 23%23% 27%27% 40% 21%21% 50% 34%34%34%34%34%34%34%34%34% 40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40%40% 30% 15% 28% 34%34% 35% 30%30%30%30%30%30%30%30%15%30%15%15%15%15%15%15%15%15% 40% 28%28%28%28%28%28%28%28%28% 35%35%35%35%35%35%35%35%35% 30% 32% 34% 30%30% 15%15% 30%30%30%30%30%30%32%30%32%30%32%30%32%32%32%32%32%32% 28%28% 29%34%34%34%34%34%34%34%34%35%35%34% 37% 29%29%29%29%29%29%29%29%29% 30% 32%32% 34%34% 37%37%37%37%37%37%37%37%37% 29%29% 20% 20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20% 37%37% 20% 24% 24%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%24% 25% 24%24% 25%25%25%25%25%25%25%25%25% 25%25% 20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20% 19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19%19% 10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10%10% 20% 19% 10% 20% 19% 16%16%16%16%16%16%16%16%16% 16% 12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12% 12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12% 16%16% 12% 12%12% 12%12% 12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12%12% 4%4%4%4%4%4%4%4%4%6%4%6%6%6%6%6%6%6%6%6%6% 1%1%1% 1%1%1%1% 1%1%1%1% 4% 4% 6% 2% 2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%2%1%2%1%1%1%1%1%1%1% 1%1%1%0% 1% 0%0%0%0%0%0%1%0%1%0%1%0%1%0%1%1% 1%1%1%1% 1% 2%2% 2% 0%1%0%0%0%0%0%0%0%0%1%1%0%1% 1%1%1%1% 1%1%1% 0% CrimeCrime1% Crime& CrimeThriller &Crime CrimeThriller & Crime&Thriller Thriller&Crime &Thriller CrimeThriller Crime&F Thriller ict& F Thriller ion& ict ThrillerF ion ictF ict ionF ictF ion ict ionF ion ictChildren'sFF ionict ictChildren'sF ionictChildren's ionChildren'sChildren'sChildren'sChildren'sChildren'sChildren'sTeensChildren'sTeens Teens&Teens YA &Teens TeensYA &Teens Teens&YA YA&Teens &YA&ComedyTeens YA YA&Comedy YA& Comedy YA&Comedy YAComedyComedyComedyComedyFantComedyFant asFant y asFantFant y asFant as as y yScienceFant as y asFant yScience y asFantScience yasScience Fiction yasScience ScienceFiction y Fiction ScienceFiction FictionScience FictionScience FictionSelf-Help FictionSelf-Help FictionSelf-Help FictionSelf-HelpSelf-HelpSelf-HelpSelf-HelpNon-FictionSelf-HelpNon-FictionSelf-HelpNon-FictionNon-Fiction0%Non-FictionNon-FictionNon-FictionNon-FictionNon-FictionNon-Fiction1% Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Teens & YA Comedy Fant as y Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction <18<18<1818-24<1818-24<18<1818-24<18<1818-2425-3418-24<1818-2425-3418-24<1818-2425-3418-2425-3435-425-3418-2425-3425-3435-4 425-3435-425-34 435-445-5435-425-3435-4 435-445-54 4 435-4 445-54 435-445-5445-54>54 435-445-5445-54 4>5445-54 4>54>5445-54>5445-54>54>54>54>54>54 <18 18-24 25-34 35-4 4 45-54 >>54 54 years

Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, based on Streams Q2 2020

8 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 90% 90% 86% 86% 2. Consumer behaviors 82% 82% 80% 80%

73% 73%73% 73% Figure71% 7: 71% 68% 68% 68% 68% Genre by gender and age 69% 69% 70% 70% 67% 62%67% 62% 66% 66% 90% 65% 65% female share in % 64%64% 64%64% 64% 64% 64% 64% 90% 90% 90% 86% 90% 62% 62% 62% 90% 86% 86% 86% 62% 61% 61% 90% 86%82% 60% 60% 86% 60% 59% 59% 60% 82% 60% 86%82% 82% 60% 57%90%80% 57% 82% 82% 90% 57% 57% 57% 57% 53% 53% 80% 80% 80% 86%55%82% 55% 56% 56% 55% 55% 90% 80% 86% 73% 73% 53% 53% 80% 53% 53% 82% 80% 86% 71% 73% 53% 53% 73% 52%73% 52% 82%73% 73% 52%73% 52% 52% 51% 51% 73%68%71% 68%71%73% 51% 51% 51% 52% 51% 69% 73%71% 73% 50%80%70% 82% 51% 51% 67% 62% 50% 80% 73%68% 71%68% 73%68% 49% 49% 69% 69% 69%66% 49% 49% 70% 68% 68%71% 49% 70%49%70% 65% 67% 62% 42% 42% 50% 50% 68%71%68% 67%69% 62% 64%64% 69% 67% 62%64%64% 70% 68% 68% 80%70% 73% 73% 65% 65% 66% 69%67%66% 66%62% 70% 65% 68% 68% 62% 67% 62%64% 66%62% 64%64%64% 46% 46% 73%71% 73% 64%64% 65% 66% 64%64%64%64% 45% 67% 62%61% 64% 65% 60% 62% 64%64% 45% 66%62% 62% 64%64%60% 44% 62% 73% 68% 71%68%73% 64%64% 65%62% 59% 62% 61% 64%64% 69% 61% 61% 44% 70%60% 57% 60% 43%60% 62% 64%64% 67% 62%62% 64%64%60% 60% 60% 62% 71%68% 43%68% 57% 57% 59% 59% 62% 61% 53%60% 69% 61% 42% 42% 60%70%60% 59% 55% 60% 56%62%65% 55% 67%66% 62%62%61% 60% 60% 57% 60% 57% 57% 68% 68% 57% 40%57% 57% 57% 59% 53% 60%53% 69% 66% 64% 57% 70% 60% 53%57% 59% 40% 60%53% 56% 56%65% 64%64% 53% 55% 55% 64% 60%53% 60% 57% 55% 52%56% 57% 55% 57%55% 52% 55% 57%39% 59% 39% 64% 53%53% 53% 67% 62%62% 64%64% 57% 60% 53% 57%53%57%51% 55% 53%53% 56%62%65% 51% 64% 51% 52%55% 66% 61% 53% 40% 40% 55% 52% 50%56% 57%60% 51% 55% 57% 53%53%53% 62% 60%53% 53% 52% 52% 52% 53%51% 51% 55% 52%53%56%52%62% 49%51%59% 64%64% 51% 52% 55%52% 64%61%64% 49% 53%51% 60%50% 52% 49% 51% 60%51% 51% 52% 51% 53%51%53% 60%53%42% 50%52% 51% 50% 50%53%57% 51% 57% 52%62% 49% 51%49%59% 51% 52% 62% 61% 49% 49% 51% 60% 46%52%52%49% 49%49% 51% 51% 51%56%52% 57% 53% 49% 53%42% 42% 50% 50%49% 50%51%50% 50% 57%51% 55%60%57% 52% 34%57%49%59%51% 31%34% 34% 31% 51%53% 42%52%55% 45% 60% 49% 60% 50% 50%49%53% 49% 51% 56% 34% 33% 33% 53% 55% 49% 42% 44% 50%46% 49% 46% 46% 57% 57%55% 43% 49% 31% 53% 42%45% 45% 53% 42% 49% 50% 46%52% 49%53%51% 52%56% 45%57% 31% 53% 52% 42%44% 44% 46% 55% 51% 40%43% 43% 51% 51% 55% 44%45% 53% 43%46%52%50% 51% 52% 45%49% 51% 30%39% 30% 53%51% 52% 42% 44%42%49% 49%53% 40%51% 43% 42% 45%44% 53% 42% 50%40%40% 52%43% 50% 51% 52%40% 49% 39% 52% 42% 42%44%49% 30% 30% 50% 49% 39% 51% 40%43% 51% 39% 51% 42%42% 40% 40% 40%46%40%50% 49% 39% 45% 49% 46% 49% 39% 40% 34% 34% 31% 42% 44% 40% 50%40% 43% 39% 33% 45% 25% 40% 34% 34% 31%31% 31% 25% 42% 44% 46% 34% 34% 31% 40% 43% 34% 34% 33% 33% 45% 33% 34%39% 31% 31%31%30% 44%42% 34% 34%31% 31% 43%40% 34% 33% 40%30% 30% 33% 34%39%34%31%31%30% 30% 42% 31% 40% 33% 30%40%30% 30% 39% 31% 30% 25%14% 14% 30% 34% 31% 30% 30% 20% 40% 30% 34% 33% 25% 20% 30% 25% 34% 34%31% 31% 25% 30% 33% 25% 16% 16% 25% 34% 34% 31%31% 16% 15%14%16% 15% 30%20% 33%30% 25% 14% 14% 31% 14% 14% 14% 20%30% 30% 16% 14%15%16% 20% 20% 14% 25% 14% 30% 20% 16% 16%14% 16% 16% 20% 16% 15%16% 25% 15% 15% 20% 14% 16%14% 14% 16% 16% 15%16% 25% 15% 14% 16%14%14% 15%16% 10% 10% 20%10% 14%14% 20% 16% 16% 10% 10% 10% 14% 15% 20% 10% 16%14% 15%16% 10% 14% 10% 16% 15%16% 14% 10%0% 10% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Teens & YA Comedy Fant as y Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction 0% 10% 0% Crime Crime& Thriller & Thriller F ict ionF ict ion Children'sChildren's Teens Teens& YA & YA ComedyComedy Fant asFant y as y ScienceScience Fiction Fiction Self-HelpSelf-Help Non-FictionNon-Fiction Crime & Thriller F ict ionCrime & ThrillerCrimeChildren's0% & ThrillerF ict ionTeens & YAF ict ionChildren'sComedy Children'sTeensFant as & y YATeensScience & YAComedy Fiction ComedySelf-HelpFant as y Non-FictionFant asScience y FictionScience FictionSelf-Help Self-HelpNon-FictionNon-Fiction Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Crime & ThrillerTeens & YA F ict ionComedy Children'sFant as y <18Teens18-24Science & YA 25-34Fiction 35-4Comedy 4 Self-Help45-54 >54 FantTot asNon-Fiction al y Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Teens & YA Comedy Fant as y Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction 0% <18 18-24 25-34 35-4 4 45-54 >54 Tot al <18 <1818-24 18-2425-34 25-3435-4 435-445-54 4 45-54>54 >54Tot al Tot al 0% <18 18-24 25-34 35-4 4 45-54 >54 <18Tot al 18-24<18 18-2425-3425-34 35-435-4 4 4 45-5445-54>54 >54Tot al Tot al Crime & Thriller F ict ion <18Children's18-24 25-34Teens<18 &18-24 YA35-425-34 4 45-54Comedy35-4 4 45-54>>54 54 years>54FantTot as aloldTot y al Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction 0% Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Teens & YA Comedy Fant as y Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction Crime & Thriller F ict ion Children's Teens<18 &18-24 YA 25-34 Comedy35-4 4 45-54 >54Fant asTot y al Science Fiction Self-Help Non-Fiction Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, based on<18 Streams18-24 Q225-34 202035-4 4 45-54 >54 Tot al 9,1%9,1% <18 18-24 25-34 35-4 4 45-54 >54 Tot al ComedyComedy 18,1%18,1%

Genre and Gender: In looking at pre- 9,5%9,5% Non-FictionNon-Fiction Figure 8 and 9: 20,4%20,4% ferences by genre: ⁄ Fiction, Teens & YA, Fantasy and Self-Help are female driven 9,8%9,8% Self-HelpSelf-Help Average time spent 21,0%21,0% ⁄ Comedy and Science Fiction are and completion rate predominantly male driven 11,3%11,3% ClassicsClassics rate by genre 21,3%21,3% ⁄ Crime and Thrillers are enjoyed 9,1% Comedy by both male and female users 15,7%15,7% 18,1% FF ict ict ion ion 25,8%25,8% (Figure 7) 9,5% Non-Fiction 20,4% The time spent shows the average 18,0%18,0%9,8% FantFant as as y y Self-Help 21,0% 29,4%29,4% time a user spends on a complete audiobook. Completion rates show 11,3% Classics 21,3% the share and how many of the lis- 21,1%21,1% CrimeCrime & & Thriller Thriller 15,7% teners have finished the title. Teens F ict ion 31,9%31,9% 25,8% and YA had the highest rates of

Fant as y 18,0% completion followed by Children’s 26,5%26,5% 29,4% ScienceScience Fiction Fiction 41,1%41,1% and Science Fiction. 21,1% Crime & Thriller Comedy, Non-Fiction and Self-Help 31,9% had the lowest completion share 28,9%28,9% 26,5% Children'sChildren's Science Fiction 41,1% while49,8%49,8% more than 1/3 of the Teens & YA users finished the audiobook, 28,9% Children's 49,8% less than every tenth user finished a 38,2%38,2% TeensTeens & & YA YA Comedy, Non-Fiction or Self-Help 38,2% 52,1%52,1% Teens & YA 52,1% title.

0,0%0,0% 10,0%10,0% 0,0% 20,20,10,0% 0% 0% 20, 0% 30,30, 0% 0%30, 0% 40,0% 40,0%40,0% 50,0% 60,50,0%Users50,0% 0% spend in average60,60, 0% 0% 26% of Average completion rate Average time spent(of total audiobook) the complete audiobook length AverageAverage completion completion completion rate rate rate AverageAverage time timetime spent(of spentspent(of (of total total total audiobook) audiobook) audiobook) inside Fiction titles and 32% in Crime and Thriller titles. Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, based on Streams Q2 2020 (Figure 8 and 9)

9 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 2. Consumer behaviors

Figure 10: Streaming Product Life Cycle: Average monthly share of 20 bestsellers in the first 24 months after re- Streaming Product Life Cycle: lease per month in streaming: Average monthly share of ⁄ Immediately upon release usage 20 bestsellers in the first 24 months peaked driven by distribution marketing and the marketing impact 6% after release in streaming per month of the Zebralution tools like app,

5% 5% voice, and playlists. 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% ⁄ Generally, share per month in the 5% 5%5% 5% 5%5% 5% 5%5% 24-month period increased, from 4% 4% 4% 4% 3-4% per month in the first year to 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4%4% 3% 4% 4% 3% more than 5% in the second. 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% ⁄ Usage increased almost monthly 3%3% (excluding the initial marketing bump factor) which is differ- 2% ent than the product life circle in download sales. 1%

0% Month: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Source: Zebralution Audiobook Analytics, 2018-2020

HOW THE CORONAVIRUS IMPACTS THE AUDIOBOOK USAGE

Zebralution has some intriguing the Home-Office Self-Help genre people were now listening to our data from the first weeks after the developed well (e.g. Power workout in content while doing chores, for early lockdown due to the Covid-19 pan- 10min, Meditation, and Home Office morning mindfulness, pre-bedtime demic. On a worldwide basis, the on- related Self-Help audiobooks). relaxation, and/or short, screen- set of the pandemic at first caused free mental health breaks through- audiobook usage to drop, but once Smart speaker usage went up out the work day.” 34 the realities of stay-at-home orders 18% in the four weeks since lockdown sunk in with consumers, usage be- (compared to before). While the This shift in consumer behavior gan to surge. This trend offers reas- share of kids content on smart speak- during the pandemic is also surances that the audiobook indus- ers surprisingly did not relatively echoed by statistics from BookBeat. try will weather the changes wrought increase that much, the absolute by the global pandemic. share of smart speakers for kids content is generally more than three In the first week of the lockdown times higher than for other content. in Germany (Monday, March 16th), usage initially declined among us- Numerous sources have com- ers in Zebralution’s user base, but mented on the resiliency of both increased during the week end- e-books and audiobooks during ing with the same usage as the the pandemic, especially in the face four-week-average before the lock- of the general unavailability of phys- down. Prior to the lockdown, Monday ical books. In the Live Mint newslet- and Tuesday had been the strongest ter from India, the prediction is made and the weekend days the lowest that audiobooks will eventually su- days, but since the lockdown, the persede e-books due to their con- CEO, Niclas Sandin of BookBeat average usage is more similar every venience of use and their ability to reports that: day. let a listener do something else while “The big shift we see is that we’ve listening.33 lost the commuter peaks. They’ve But what people are listening to been replaced by more listening has changed significantly, seem- Shailesh Sawlani, Country Head, at other times during the day. Over- ingly linked to schools being closed Audible India thinks that customers all, the average listening levels and children being home. Children’s are finding new ways to incorporate are the same and in some markets and Teens titles increased heavily audiobooks and audio content into even higher than before. We actually (+36% and 17% respectively), whereas their lifestyles. He reports that: had the highest listening hours ever strong adult genres (Comedy and “Instead of a peak in listening for BookBeat on the Monday after Self-Help) decreased. Unsurprisingly, during morning and evening commute, the Easter weekend.” 35

10 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 3. A look at the future

Although the audiobook market print readers have to migrate to of multicast performances, and had been enjoying a consid- digital, even as print-based stake- participation of A-listers in the talent erable uptick, with the advent holders like booksellers struggle to pool. of the coronavirus pandemic survive. Many will stay hybrid read- Demographics audiobook listening has seen ers or even transition fully to digital Audiobooks have widespread a considerable surge. Accord- afterwards... appeal to younger audiences, ing to tnps’s editor Mark Williams To be clear, there’s no suggestion making them a delivery format for in a report published in April of this will be an extinction-event for the future. The 2019 APA Consum- this year, one of the hardest-hit print – but when this is over and we er Survey showed 55% of all audio- countries — Spain — saw 50,000 return to whatever the ‘new normal’ book listeners are under the age of transitions to digital reading may be, digital books will play a far 45, and 51% of frequent listeners are (e-books and audiobooks) in just larger part in the lives of consumers between 18 and 44 years old. three weeks in March. During the first and publishers than we could ever few months (March-April 2020) of the have imagined as this new decade be- Amanda D’Acierno, President and Covid-19 pandemic, Spotify reports gan just a few short months ago.”37 Publisher, Penguin Random House that audiobook consumption is up Audio Publishing Group, is partic- 17%, while on the subscription plat- Even before the pandemic, all signs ularly buoyed by what she sees: form Nubico content consumption is pointed to the continued growth of up 32%. Libranda is reporting a 50% the global audiobook market. No “I’m most excited by the growth in the increase in digital book engage- one is sure when the crest will peak, number of young people listening to ment, while Kobo says audiobooks but in gazing into the future, the fol- audiobooks, who are creating hab- on its platform are up 254%.36 lowing trends trends will certainly its that last a lifetime and will be play a significant role in the growth passed along to future generations What will the reading world of audiobooks. of listeners.” be like after the crisis ends (or at least abates)? Keeping an eye on this younger FUTURE TRENDS demographic and their preferences Will consumers’ habits of rely- for emerging audio content interests ing on the digital format ‘stick’ after Technology as well as their mode of consump- some normalcy returns and easier Smart speakers will continue to tion and purchase habits will be im- access to print books returns? Peo- proliferate, which makes audio- portant for publishers to follow and ple were increasingly turning to dig- books increasingly easier to access. adapt to. In many cases, this will also ital before the pandemic, but what According to Deloitte, “smart speakers require publishers to push the enve- the ‘new normal’ will be – especially are expected to achieve more than lope of what type of works could be in the light of the economic down- 25 percent market penetration in considered candidates for an audio turn – is the big question. the US and urban China by 2020.”38 format such as graphic novels or au- Data from Strategy Analytics show dio first (non-book based) content. that over one in five UK households had a smart speaker as of the end Distribution of June 2019 which translates into The diversity of various digital 5.8 million households and a reach sales formats suggests that pub- of over 10 million users. Germany has lishers might re-examine distribution also passed 11% with smart speak- models such as subscription stream- ers in 4.8 million households with a ing sales. Platforms have shown population of about 9.5 million po- the rising popularity of streaming tential users. Households in Ireland sales in their music centric customer are nearing 10% while France trails universe. What happened to the at 7.4%.39 music industry might serve as a corrective to dire predictions that Advances in technology will con- no one will pay for audiobooks any- Javier Celaya tinue to drive the medium forward, more if streaming becomes the CEO and founder, Dosdoce.com not only in usability but also in pro- norm. What happens may simply duction quality. Technologies such be viewed as a shifting paradigm He put it in an Op-Ed for Dosdoce: as Sonos (a popular multi-room whereby people are no longer “Confinement is transforming the audio system) will allow consumers paying to own audiobooks, but are book disovery habits of thousands a more pleasurable listening experi- paying for access to audiobooks. of readers, as well as their purchase ence as high fidelity listening will be In 2009, U.S recorded music rev- and consumption on screens” available wherever they want to listen. enues were at $7.8b. Ten years lat- and Mark Williams from tnps stated: And with bigger sales, the quality of er with the rise of streaming services, “The longer the pandemic crisis narrations will continue to improve that number has risen by over 40% continues, the longer dedicated as is evidenced by the recent waves to $11.1b.40

11 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 3. A look at the future

Before the pandemic, Mark world population, probably 90% e-book market within the next few Williams from tnps stated, “Unlimited or more have never listened to an years. This could be due to a con- video streaming services are pro- audiobook. Libraries serve as an fluence of factors: liferating like wildfire, and unlimited entryway into the medium. With this “Publishers have started to pro- e-book and audiobook subscription exposure, the ability of Public Li- duce new titles for niche audienc- services are, depending on which braries to help grow the audience is es, targeting areas other than the part of the world we care to look, extraordinary.” traditional commercial fiction and fast catching up. In the pre-pan- children’s books. The audiobook demic era, the popular position of Equally important will be meeting and podcast worlds are expected the big western publishers has been consumer needs at an individual level. to meet, enabling cross promotion to dismiss subscription as something According to Niclas Sandin, CEO and again increasing the audience. consumers are not that interested in, of BookBeat in Sweden, they see understandably wanting to protect two important components – Distribution via streaming mu- their print interests.” personalisation and choice – as sic platforms like Spotify and Apple If nothing else, the pandemic has central to any strategy for audio- Music will lead to some serious com- certainly shown the potential for this books going forward: petition for the existing subscription model for publishers as they contin- platforms, targeting a new, younger, ue to broaden their format offerings “First, it is key to take leadership generation of audiobook consum- going into the future. Download pre- in product development and data ers. And finally, synthetic audio – mium pricing may certainly still be analytics to stay ahead. We offer all apparently already good enough in the model of choice for top tier new our hundreds of thousands of users the English language for non-fiction releases, but streaming subscription personalized recommendations to texts – might offer cheaper produc- services seem poised to be recog- make sure that they always find tions and even more new titles.“ nized as a viable alternative and be- something new to listen to in our app. come part of the publishing strategy, especially as a means to promote The second thing we know is that first in series, backlist titles, and less- it is all about local premium audio- er-known authors. book content, and you need a lot of it. A big impact on growth in the Other trends next years is the widespread avail- Beyond these trends, several in- ability of all titles on all platforms, dustry leaders see important devel- which offer a fair and sustainable opments in the audiobook market. business model for all parties, con- In a recent APA survey it was report- sumers, and publishers. A great title ed up to 43% of respondents in the selection is key to not only attract US reported they accessed their au- new consumers to try out a digital diobooks from free library services.41 service but also to keep them loy- al and convert them to enthusiastic Jonathan Atkins, audiobook-lovers.” International Director, Pan Macmillan

Jonathan Atkins sees an interesting trend emerging for audiobooks for educational purposes:

“I expect to see growth in children’s audio for educational purposes - learning English through entertainment for example - but as English continues to be spoken and listened to with great- Steve Potash, er facility in emerging markets, we CEO of OverDrive will develop more of an adult Susan Breeuwsma, audience.“ A supplier of audiobooks to the global Head of Platform Business public library market, was quick to Development, CB BV observe the critical importance of libraries for exposing readers to Huub van de Pol, audiobooks: Co-Founder Luisterrijk, audiobook pioneer Icontact BV “As robust as the market has been in The Netherlands growing, we have to remember that audio is still a very small segment They even see the possibility that worldwide. If you look at the whole audiobooks might exceed the

12 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 3. A look at the future

es such as audiobooks. However, before. It is for everybody’s benefit with Google, Microsoft, IBM, Ama- and it will be rewarding in reach and zon and other companies all pledg- in income.” ing to make their TTS sound more natural and as people become And Nils Hollmann, Managing more accustomed to hearing TTS, it Director Audiobooks of Zebralution could have a big impact on the au- feels: diobook business.” “There is no doubt that topics such as data gathering, streaming, connectivity, voice and AI are influ- encing the publishing industry. One can only consume so much media in a day. If we are where consumers Beth Anderson, are, we are able to reach new users. retired Executive Vice President, Alongside our established models, Audible we should embrace new technologies that allow us to study powerful Beth Anderson is impressed by the case studies. More than ever, data market penetration of podcasts, and gathering and AI are providing wonders what that means for the greater insights into user profiles future of audiobooks: and preferences so that publishers can better supply the right content “Podcasts have had a much to the right people. At the same time more dramatic increase in listening Kurt Thielen, voice-enabled interactive audio than audiobooks in the past few CEO, Zebralution formats provide user with new ex- years. While Edison reported that periences. Non-traditional audio- 50% of the US population had lis- Kurt Thielen notes how the pan- book channels introduce new users tened to an audiobook by 2019 (up demic makes forecasting particularly to the spoken word format. Together from a plateau of 43-45% in 2015- challenging: with our publishers we are looking 2018), 51% of the nation has listened forward to these quite exciting to a podcast at some time, up “There couldn’t be a better time opportunities that will continue to fuel dramatically from 27% who had lis- to look at a changing world for au- the growth of the audiobook market.” tened in 2015. Podcasts have ben- diobooks because a lot of things efitted from the same trends that are changing in the behavior of have contributed to the increased consumers, in the thinking of pub- Conclusion consumption of audiobooks – more lishers, and in the ways audiobooks devices and greater supply of con- find their listeners. And there could While audiobooks have taken tent. But the supply of podcasts not be a worse time as predictions the publishing world by storm, they has grown even faster and larger, so much depend on developments have also been able to weather with up to a million podcasts and 30 outside of our control.” and grow in the storm of the pan- million episodes available as of April demic. Publishers should now stop 2020. Podcasts also have attracted Still, trends that were present be- and take stock of how the market strong following more globally than fore the virus have only been ac- has evolved in the past few years, audiobooks, with 58% of South Ko- celerated as a result. “Digitaliza- and look at the new and emerging rea having listened in the previous tion will continue to change our trends. It is an excellent opportunity month and 30% or greater having lives and businesses,” he notes. In to learn about changes in consum- listened in Spain, Sweden, Australia, his view the negative impact of the er behaviors with the addition of so the US and Italy.42 It is too early to virus on bricks and mortar booksellers many new listeners joining the mar- know if podcasts will bring new fans has trickle-down effects on the ket and to look at and consider the to spoken audio and audiobooks or physical side of the audiobook in- viability of all the new forms of dis- if it will draw fans from audiobooks dustry: “Audiobooks on CD might tribution that have been emerging. to the shorter and generally free be a thing of the past soon If publishers can have an open mind content.” even in countries like Germany about how these new models can be where it still has a significant market embraced and integrated with ex- She is more confident that text- share.” And he has some encourag- isting models, the future of the au- to-speech (TTS) technology will have ing words for writers and artists: diobook market should continue to an impact on audiobooks: grow and thrive. Using the new mod- “Spoken Word experiences seem els to capture the loyalty of the new “Today TTS technology is used on an unstoppable rise. Creatives demographic of audiobook listen- primarily in navigation systems, per- need to open up for new business ers while continuing to support the sonal assistants, and as adaptive models including streaming in order listening habits of the existing base technology, and we generally hear to reach an audience which is should be a key to the ongoing suc- short informational clips generat- bigger than ever before, to reach cess and growth of the audiobook ed via TTS, not long narrative piec- people which have not been listeners market into the upcoming years.

13 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 4. Sources

1 www2.deloitte.com/us/en/ 14 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ 26 https://thenewpublishing- insights/industry/technology/ en/insights/industry/technology/ standard.com/2018/09/19/ technology-media-and-tele- technology-media-and-tele- four-ten-books-sold-sweden-sub- com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- scription-service-might-print-eb- diobooks-podcast-industry.html diobooks-podcast-industry.html ooks-casualties-great-scan- dinavian-experiment/ 2 www.audiopub.org/members/ 15 https://www.edisonresearch. member-resources com/the-infinite-dial-2020/ 27 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ en/insights/industry/technology/ 3 https://livrescanadabooks.com/ 16 https://www.shine.cn/ technology-media-and-tele- en/reports/digital-publishing/ biz/tech/1808230983/ com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- the-global-audiobook-market/ diobooks-podcast-industry.html 17 http://en.peo- 4 www.booknetcanada.ca/press- ple.cn/n3/2020/0113/ 28 https://thenewpublishing- room/2018/6/6/canadian-au- c90000-9648171.html standard.com/2019/12/04/ dio-production-on-the-rise audiobooks-will-outsell-eb- 18 https://www.publishersweekly. ooks-in-the-uk-in-2020-says- 5 https://thenewpublishingstan- com/pw/by-topic/childrens/ a-new-report-or-will-they/ dard.com/2020/04/08/swedens- childrens-industry-news/arti- nextory-sees-94-revenue-and- cle/79769-bologna-2019-au- 29 https://thenewpublishing- 110-subscriber-growth-in-q1/ diobook-sales-show-glob- standard.com/2020/01/10/ al-growth.html storytel-turkey-saw-a-315-rise- 6 https://thenewpublishing- in-audiobook-consumption-in- standard.com/2020/04/07/ 19 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ 2019-aims-to-grow-50-in-2020/ storytel-revenue-up-45-in- en/insights/industry/technology/ q1-1-15-million-subscribers- technology-media-and-tele- 30 https://www.audiopub.org/ but-will-the-2020-corona- com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- members/member-resources bounce-give-way-to-head- diobooks-podcast-industry.html winds-for-tellanders-40-coun- 31 https://hub.londonbookfair.co.uk/ try-200-million-revenue-plans/ 20 https://thenewpublishingstan- audiobooks-boom dard.com/2019/03/19/7-7-million- 7 data supplied directly audiobooks-users-france-51-first- 32 https://www.livemint.com/indus- from BookBeat. timers-french-audiobook-listeners- try/media/uptake-of-audiobooks- read-print-books-regular-readers/ and-ebooks-grows-amid-covid- 8 Zebralution Audiobook Analyt- 19-pandemic-11590509317854.html ics 2020 (based on reports from 21 https://publishingperspectives. streaming services with global users com/2019/10/frankfurter-buch- 33 www.bbc.com/culture/article/ from Germany, the US and the UK). messe-audio-summit-2019-val- 20200104-audio- erie-levy-soussan-of-audiolib/ books-the-rise-andrise- 9 Futuresource_Music Stream- of-the-books-you-dont-read ing Outlook_Summary Re- 22 https://ebookfriendly.com/ port_April 2020 by Future- early-look-worldwide-au- 34 https://www.livemint.com/indus- source Consulting Ltd. diobook-report-2019/ try/media/uptake-of-audiobooks- and-ebooks-grows-amid-covid- 10 www.forbes.com/sites/adam- 23 https://ebookfriendly.com/ 19-pandemic-11590509317854.html rowe1/2018/06/28/what-audio- early-look-worldwide-au- bookscom-ceo-thinks-industrys-dou- diobook-report-2019/ 35 https://publishingperspectives. ble-digit-growth/#7e1344d5547d com/2020/04/sweden-book- 24 https://www.dosdoce. beat-rides-a-pandemic-au- 11 https://blog.cminyla.com/blog/ com/2019/03/04/pro- diobook-boom-covid19/ audiobook-trends-for-2019 file-of-the-spanish-audiobook-market/ 36 https://thenewpublishing- 12 www2.deloitte.com/us/en/ standard.com/2020/04/10/ insights/industry/technology/ 25 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ publishers-globally-need-to- technology-media-and-tele- en/insights/industry/technology/ understand-the-new-normal- com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- technology-media-and-tele- now-evolving-and-to-devel- diobooks-podcast-industry.html com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- op-post-pandemic-go-wide- diobooks-podcast-industry.html strategies-that-may-at-first- 13 www.emarketer.com/content/ glance-seem-counter-intuitive/ global-smart-speaker-users-2019

14 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm 4. Sources

37 https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ 4) The Audio Publishers en/insights/industry/technology/ Association in the US technology-media-and-tele- conducts annual sales and com-predictions/2020/rise-of-au- consumer surveys on the diobooks-podcast-industry.html audiobook market. Key public information from the 38 https://voicebot.ai/2019/10/11/ reports can be found here: over-20-of-uk-households-have- https://www.audiopub.org/ smart-speakers-while-germa- members/member-resources ny-passes-10-and-ireland-ap- proaches-that-milestone/ 5) Pew Research – this is another organization that puts out reports 39 https://medium.com/@RIAA/ on the audio market from time charting-a-path-to-musics-sus- to time – here is a link to results tainable-success-12a5625bbc7d from their search page for information about audio and radio: 40 https://thenewpublishing- https://www.pewresearch.org/ standard.com/2020/05/07/ topics/audio-and-radio/ mapping-the-new-normal-unlimited-streaming-services-from-al- 6) Statista is a site that has industry amo-yippee-and-mills-boon-as- reports for sale – here is a link to faber-ceo-admits-lockdown-les- their search page outlining topics sons-will-outlast-the-pandemic/ for which reports are available for audiobooks: https://www.statista. 41 https://www.audiopub.org/ com/search/?q=audiobook+mar- members/member-resources ket&Search=&qKat=search

42 https://www.podcastinsights. com/podcast-statistics

Bibliography:

Sources of up-to-date news about the audio industry

1) The New Publishing Standard newsletter, edited by Mark Williams – This newsletter contains valuable articles and updates about global events and trends across the publishing industry – link to subscribe: https://streetlib.us2.list-manage. com/subscribe?u=f735ad980e- 229186fee196bd8&id=c6c2dbc7b8

2) Deloitte publishes web articles in the area of Technology, Me- dia & Telecommunications that often cover audiobook trends. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/ en/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications. html?icid=top_technology-media-and-telecommunications

3) IbisWorld offers in-depth industry reports (for a fee) on industry trends, data and statistics: https:// www.ibisworld.com/united-states/ market-research-reports/ audiobook-publishing-industry/

15 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm About the author

Linda Lee is the Principal and CEO With over 30 years experience of Linda Lee LLC, consulting in the children’s multimedia with businesses and individuals publishing industry, she has to manage intellectual rights served as a Board Member and and grow strategic partnerships. President of the Board of Di- rectors for the U.S. Audio Pub- She is the former Publisher and Vice lishers Association, as President President for Scholastic Audio and of the Weston Woods Institute, Vice President and Executive Pro- a non-profit foundation dedicated ducer for Weston Woods Studios, to fostering children’s literacy, and Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of as a Board Member, Chair and Trea- Scholastic Inc. Scholastic is the surer of the National Media Market, world’s largest publisher and dis- a non-profit organization dedicat- tributor of children’s books. ed to promoting motion media use in the educational market.

About the data partner

Zebralution was founded in 2004 Germany and the Netherlands. as the first digital distributor for The company works globally with independent music labels in Europe all relevant streaming and down- and entered the audiobook market load services, both ones from the in 2010. With the formation of their book world like Apple Books, Google podcast company Zebra-Audio. Books, Bookbeat, Storytel and net in 2018, Zebralution rolled out OverDrive as well as music-centric its ‘All Audio’ media strategy. Their services like Spotify, Apple Music, clients include some of the big- YouTube, Deezer and Napster. gest publishers in the UK, US, www.zebralution.com/de/audiobook-publishers

Imprint

© Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH Copyright Photos: All rights reserved. No part of this Page 6: publication may be reproduced, Frankfurter Buchmesse Frankfurt Audio Stage stored in any retrieval system, or Braubachstraße 16 2019: Niklas Goerke transmitted, in any form or by any 60311 Frankfurt am Main / Germany Page 10: means, electronic, mechanical, www.buchmesse.de Niclas Sandin: Andreas Carlfors photocopying, recording, or other- Page 11: wise, without the prior written per- Editor: Luisa Wagner Javier Celaya: Javier Broto mission of Frankfurter Buchmesse. Page 12: Cover Adaptation/Layout: Steve Potash: OverDrive WEIRAUCH//MEDIA DESIGN Huub van de Pol: CC0 10 Universal Jonathan Atkins: Roger Tagholm Cover Design: Vier für Texas Page 13: Kurt Thielen: Camille Blake Beth Anderson: Audible, Inc

16 Audiobooks: Taking the World by Storm