![]() ![]() ![]() For one thing, there were capacity limitations. The format was not particularly well-suited to audiobooks. The music industry had already fully embraced the CD by the early 1990s, but audio publishers were still reluctant to follow. Simultaneously, audio publishers grappled with whether to make the move to producing digital recordings on an entirely new physical format: the compact disc, which delivered far superior sound quality over the cassette, but was more expensive. Bringing more unabridged offerings to retail obviously meant producing more cassettes with bulkier packaging-but on the positive flip side, the shift also generated more revenue, proving that audiobook fans were willing to pay a higher price. Consumers had begun expressing a preference for unabridged audio adaptations of print books when abridged recordings with a lower price tag had dominated. Wholesale clubs like Costco and mail-order clubs including Columbia House Audiobook Club saw strong performances, and online purchases of audiobooks from outlets like and bn.com were seeing impressive gains.Īs sales and awareness of audiobooks grew, so did format challenges-encompassing both production and various audio rights. The APA rolled out its inaugural Audiobook Month in June 1998 its member publishers, along with retailers, celebrated the industry with display contests and giveaways promoting audiobooks as the ultimate tool for multitasking, and encouraging consumers to listen while they were driving, exercising, or cooking.Īudiobook publishers ventured into nontraditional retail outlets as well, scoring successes with such ideas as selling business books through Staples office supply stores, Louis L’Amour westerns narrated by Willie Nelson at truck stops, and a Winnie-the-Pooh boxed set sold at the Disney store. Publishers Weekly launched its own annual Listen Up awards spotlighting the previous year’s finest recordings as selected by the magazine’s audio reviewers and reporters. In that promotional vein, 1995 saw the first Audie Awards (though the kernel of the idea first sprouted in 1992) presented by the APA honoring audiobook excellence in a variety of categories. They urged publishers to assist them with redesigning retail-friendly packaging, consumer awareness campaigns, and other marketing efforts, including simultaneous print/audio release of titles by top-tier authors. Along with chain and indie bookstores stocking audio, these retailers were on the market’s front lines observing consumer trends. Audio-only stores sprang up nationwide-including such chains as Austin, Tex.’s Earful of Books and Talking Book World of Southfield, Mich., and indies like Lynne’s Talking Books in Portland, Ore.-and were doing solid business in both sales and rentals of audiobooks. ![]() The 1990s were a decade of enormous change for audiobooks as the industry more firmly established its identity as a viable force in publishing. By the late 1980s, audiobooks had begun their steady march into the trade market as the major book publishing houses launched audiobook divisions audiobook publishers like Blackstone, Brilliance, and Recorded Books flourished the Audio Publishers Association formed, in 1986 and commuters, road trippers, joggers, and Sony Walkman fans began listening to audiobook cassettes-still the predominant format-on the go. Though Caedmon (founded 1952) and Listening Library (1955) were among the category’s pioneers, following the American Foundation for the Blind (1932), audiobooks began to really take off in schools and libraries in the 1960s with the arrival of the audiocassette tape and player. The road to this high point is littered with tangled cassette tapes and cracked jewel cases, and PW has been riding shotgun all along. And the Association of American Publishers reports that audio sales grew by 157% between 20. This segment of publishing is coming off nine consecutive years of double-digit sales growth, according to data from the Audio Publishers Association. ![]() Advances in digital technology over the past 25 years have fueled an unprecedented surge in audiobook sales and demand, and transformed the audio category in nearly every way, from production through packaging to delivery. ![]()
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