Blog: audiobooks

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the digital entertainment world. Check out the latest from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage - games, video, music, audio, social, or critical developments.

The audio listener is too valuable for the music industry to ignore

Cover image for The audio listener is too valuable for the music industry to ignore

Rutger Rosenborg

13 Feb 2025

On the heels of positive Q4 2024 financials for Spotify , the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has not lost a step in holding the company accountable for what it sees as unauthorised music...

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What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Cover image for What got you here won’t get you there: how Spotify built a new business

Mark Mulligan

17 Jan 2025

Business Strategy

Since its inception, Spotify has been, and continues to be, the streaming music market’s lightning rod. This is due to its continued ability to maintain leading market share and the fact it is the only...

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Audiobooks enter their entertainment era

Cover image for Audiobooks enter their entertainment era

Rutger Rosenborg

8 Jan 2025

It is easy to forget that the audiobook is not a new format. Novels, stories, and poems – much of what the modern world knows best through the written word – all have their origins in the oral traditions...

min read

Audio is incidental: Why Spotify wants to become a creator ecosystem

Cover image for Audio is incidental: Why Spotify wants to become a creator ecosystem

Rutger Rosenborg

11 Dec 2024

Spotify Wrapped

First there were artists, and then there were podcasters. Now, there are artists, creators, and authors on Spotify. As we covered at the end of November, Spotify has officially renamed its Spotify for...

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Bundle up: Audible audiobooks join the Amazon Music catalogue

Cover image for Bundle up: Audible audiobooks join the Amazon Music catalogue

Rutger Rosenborg

4 Dec 2024

As audio platforms continue to expand into industries beyond audio, new fronts in the platform wars are emerging. With Spotify now competing with YouTube for video, podcast, and music supremacy, the company’s...

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AI podcasts: Google’s NotebookLM will disrupt — not destroy — podcasting

Cover image for AI podcasts: Google’s NotebookLM will disrupt — not destroy — podcasting

Rutger Rosenborg

2 Oct 2024

On the heels of a North Carolina man being indicted for music streaming fraud, questions about AI and audio — especially as it pertains to intellectual property (IP) rights — continue to swirl. Now,...

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As audio goes long-form, podcasts and audiobooks converge

Cover image for As audio goes long-form, podcasts and audiobooks converge

Rutger Rosenborg

18 Sep 2024

Songs may be getting shorter, but many of the most popular podcasts are not. As Ashley Carman reports for Bloomberg , Lex Fridman’s August 2024 episode with Elon Musk reached almost nine hours, while...

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The future of AI-generated audiobooks is here

Cover image for The future of AI-generated audiobooks is here

Rutger Rosenborg

7 Aug 2024

Cultural trends

In March, on the heels of a Danish man becoming the first person convicted of streaming fraud, MIDiA explained how AI could soon enable a golden age of audio piracy . Coupled with the fact that book publishers...

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What Audible’s new royalty model means for its audiobook battle with Spotify

Cover image for What Audible’s new royalty model means for its audiobook battle with Spotify

Rutger Rosenborg

1 Aug 2024

Business Strategy

In early July, Audible’s blog broke the news that the company was introducing a new royalty model for audiobooks. Previously, according to Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman , Audible would do a “buyout”,...

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Audio advertising: What podcasts can learn from radio

Cover image for Audio advertising: What podcasts can learn from radio

Rutger Rosenborg

11 Jul 2024

Business Strategy

Radio has been the dominant audio format for a century — and arguably, it still is. According to MIDiA’s Q1 2024 Consumer Survey , 49% of respondents in all tracked markets (excluding China) say they...

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The countdown begins for audiobooks on Spotify

Cover image for The countdown begins for audiobooks on Spotify

Rutger Rosenborg

23 May 2024

music publishing

As Spotify rolls out music-like features for audiobooks, the company still finds itself at odds with the music business, courting one publishing industry while ruffling the feathers of another. So far,...

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Audio is not enough: Why audio platforms and creators are betting on video

Cover image for Audio is not enough: Why audio platforms and creators are betting on video

Rutger Rosenborg

8 May 2024

subscription video on demand

Video may have killed the radio star, but digital audio platforms and creators increasingly see video as a beneficial supplement to podcasts and audiobooks. From ghost podcasts filmed for social media...

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Spotify’s publisher dilemma: Audiobook bundling makes music publishers mad — is all-in-one audio sustainable?

Cover image for Spotify’s publisher dilemma: Audiobook bundling makes music publishers mad — is all-in-one audio sustainable?

Rutger Rosenborg

25 Apr 2024

Music streaming

Try as you might, you cannot make everyone happy. Spotify is learning that the hard way as the company tries to make the case for audiobooks to users, shareholders, and the book publishing industry —...

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AI could enable a golden age of audio piracy

Cover image for AI could enable a golden age of audio piracy

Rutger Rosenborg

28 Mar 2024

Everyone knows the story: In the early 2000s, peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing platforms like Napster, Kazaa, and LimeWire helped digital music piracy proliferate, ultimately decimating recorded music revenue...

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As Spotify corners audiobooks, Audible eyes functional audio

Cover image for As Spotify corners audiobooks, Audible eyes functional audio

Rutger Rosenborg

22 Mar 2024

Over the course of 30 years, Audible’s catalogue has grown to include more than 470,000 audiobooks, at least according to their own ads . In less than a year, Spotify’s catalogue has grown to include...

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New audiobook pricing gives Spotify the best of both worlds

Cover image for New audiobook pricing gives Spotify the best of both worlds

Rutger Rosenborg

6 Mar 2024

In late 2023, Spotify slowly started rolling out audiobooks to Premium subscribers in select markets . In contrast with Spotify’s unlimited supply of music, Premium subscribers were allotted 15 hours...

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What indie book publishers can gain from audiobooks

Cover image for What indie book publishers can gain from audiobooks

Rutger Rosenborg

22 Feb 2024

Music streaming

In the music industry, three major labels generate the lion’s share of revenue: Universal, Sony, and Warner. In the book publishing industry, the “big five” publishers dominate: Penguin Random House,...

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Audiobooks’ Latin explosion — a new front in the streaming wars?

Cover image for Audiobooks’ Latin explosion — a new front in the streaming wars?

Rutger Rosenborg

2 Feb 2024

As streaming and demographic shifts bring a second Latin explosion to the music industry, audiobooks are gearing up to follow suit. In a January 2024 press release , popular subscription-based audio platform...

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Audiobooks enter their streaming era, but will it pay off?

Cover image for Audiobooks enter their streaming era, but will it pay off?

Rutger Rosenborg

3 Jan 2024

Most people agree that streaming saved the recorded music industry, but that only happened because demonetised digital consumption helped bring it to the brink of death in the first place. The internet...

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Spotify’s audiobooks move is another brick in the audio wall

Cover image for Spotify’s audiobooks move is another brick in the audio wall

Mark Mulligan

4 Oct 2023

Streaming has come a long way since its days as a pure music service for super fans. Spotify’s announcement that it is making 15 monthly audiobook hours available to premium subscribers is simply the...

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