
Amazon Wants to Extend Its Dominance in Audiobooks - prostoalex
https://www.wsj.com/articles/readers-listen-up-amazon-wants-to-extend-its-dominance-in-audiobooks-1517832000
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loudouncodes
Audible, I’m a regular user and a big fan, but if you want to make me happy
and increase my book purchasing volume:

1) get rid of the subscription service, I have avoided purchases altogether
because the book was cheaper than my credit was costing me, but couldn’t bring
myself to give you more money when I have a bunch of credits there. 2) include
the kindle book. Just make it so I’m buying the rights to the content and I’ll
willingly let you lock me in to both the kindle and audible.

3) improve the UI of the apps. I have 50 or so booos now, and it seems
inconsistent how they are ordered, where they are downloaded, which devices
recognize I’ve listened to them, etc. give me a way to organize my books, give
me adjustable playback speed on my echo.

~~~
lev99
I'm a regular audible user with 72 audio books. Yes audiobooks are expensive,
but I find them to be the most intellectually stimulating audio source. I have
gathered these books over the last 30 months, with more heavy usage in the
last 18 months.

Changes audible could make to increase the amount I consume audiobooks.

1) I'd really enjoy a "pause at the end of a chapter" button. So many times I
would have pressed this and consumed more audiobook in a session than just
pausing in the middle of a chapter. I think it would also improve reading
comprehension and enjoyment.

2) Let me buy books on the app. I once spent a week without listening to
audible because I kept forgetting to browse books when I was at a laptop
computer.

3) The UI could have better grouping for series. I've read books without
knowing they are series until I talk about the book with someone a few weeks
later. The UI should let me know and suggest I buy the next book.

4) The UI should do a better job of highlighting the cheapest price. Sometimes
it's cheapest to use a credit. Sometimes it's cheapest to buy the audiobook
without a credit. Sometimes it's cheapest to buy the kindle book then buy the
audiobook.

5) The books need better production quality. Books with multiple readers are
significantly better then books with one readers. The reader has a large
impact on the tone of the book. This isn't Amazon's responsibility now, but if
they wanted to increase sales of audiobooks they could approach it from this
angle.

~~~
sli
> 1) I'd really enjoy a "pause at the end of a chapter" button.

Audible has this feature, it's just hidden in the Sleep Timer menu. It has the
exact functionality you describe, though: pauses the book at the end of the
chapter. I've been using it nightly for a long time.

It also has timed options, of course, as well as pause at end of book part.

~~~
lev99
Thank you.

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cpymchn
Moat building at it's best.

Amazon has been buying the rights then doing the production for audiobooks for
years. They have the data and they have the will to bring audiobooks to market
that the publishers either don't care about or don't know about. In this
regard their initiative to buy rights before publication is nothing new.

What is new is that other retailers are wise to audio being the only place in
the industry where there is growth.

* Rakuten bought Overdrive — an audio provider for public libraries — then used that catalog to launch audiobooks at Kobo.

* Google has launched audio

* Apple has redesigned their books app to better serve audio (which is serviced by Audible)

* All magnified by smart speaker popularity

It sucks when agents/publishers sign exclusive agreements with Audible so that
their books are kept off competitors' platforms.

It also sucks that once DRM-free audio platforms like Downpour.com and
libro.fm have started to add DRM... this is presumably a 'level-playing-field'
measure in their contracts likely brought about by the above interest in
audio... this should be illegal IMO... but kudos to Audible for protecting
their business.

Another great example of how Bezos' initiatives from 15 years ago — namely to
start Audible productions — are paying dividends in other areas, like Alexa,
today.

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dudus
I tried audio books on Google play and was positively surprised. Great UX ...
I can cast to my Chromecast audio, I can add a shortcut to resume my book with
one click on my phone. It integrates with Google assistant, easy chapter
navigation, easy to manage downloads... Everything just worked better than
expected. I had a past experience with audible that was far from great. I
ended up cancelling my subscription and mostly forgot about audio books,
mostly because of UX. Now I'm hooked again.

Prices were also pretty low, although I think they were running a promo
because it was a new service.

I don't think they have a subscription model though. It's a pay per book kind
of thing. I prefer this way because with the subscription I always felt like I
was missing out if I didn't listen to at least 3 books. But there's value in
having a subscription model.

Curious if someone have experience with other audio book ecosystems

~~~
chrisan
How long ago did you have Audible? Alexa/Sonos is "coming" but for now I just
stream via Airplay to home speakers. As for the rest, I don't have any of
those issues with the iOS app, seems pretty easy.

The audible subscription is a much better value, when I get full on credits I
can just cancel my sub until I'm ready for more books and don't have to pay
$40 or something. If I really want a cheap book (something less than the
subscription price, I will just buy outright and save my tokens for something
expensive)

My only real complaint with Amazon (and it may be a publisher rule) is you
don't get the kindle version for free. If I want to switch between book and
text seamlessly I have to buy both versions.

Does anyone know if the author gets less money when buying an audio book vs a
text book?

~~~
vblord
I used to use audible solely. Their incredibly high prices drove me away.
Their subscription is stupid in my mind. To me it’s just a way to make users
forget so they pay for another month. I’ve been using hoopla for the past 6
months and love it. It’s free with a library card.

~~~
tinymollusk
I tend towards fairly dense nonfiction like Scale (finished yesterday). That's
nearly 20 hours at 1x playback, which the effective price was $15 w/ my
membership.

I find a huge amount of value for the effective $1-2 per hour I end up paying,
even before considering the no-thought-required return policy and pro-rating
the cost from multiple listens.

YMMV, but I consider my audible subscription some of the best value I receive
for my money.

------
AndrewWarner
The Libby app has free, unlimited audiobooks.

I read a few commenters here talk about how expensive Audible is. Not only
does this eliminate the cost, but I’ve found that when I have unlimited
access, it leads me to try audiobooks I never would have considered before.

The one possible downside is that you need to walk into your library for a
moment and get a library card. But it’s easy.

And if you don’t live in the US it might not be available, which is always
painful

~~~
fokinsean
Is there a license limit with Libby? I'm currently using Overdrive, but I
usually have to wait for popular audiobooks to come available because they
only have a few licenses allowed to be "checked out" at a single time.

~~~
vinay427
As I understand it, Libby is just a different interface to Overdrive with the
same availability based on your library.

Hoopla, if your library supports it (few do in my experience), has a different
selection with no waitlists.

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6d6b73
Public Service Announcement: Thousands of free audio books available at
[https://librivox.org/](https://librivox.org/)

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joshuakarjala
I wish Audible had acceptable download speeds all over the world - especially
when owned by Amazon.

On 500MB/s line and getting like 300-700k down from them

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mpweiher
Amazon wants to extends its dominance.

Period.

Not sure we need any qualifiers.

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neonate
[http://archive.is/WY5T5](http://archive.is/WY5T5)

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megaman22
The Audible integration with the Kindle app is just so good.

The only downside is I have to make sure I pick my audiobooks carefully.
Ideally it's things that I want to listen to in the car on long drives, but
wouldn't read day-to-day, and so end up wasting the extra $10-15 narration.

~~~
dvh
But completely broken elsewhere. When you buy a book you cannot just play it
on your mp3 player so what's the point.

~~~
mathgeek
Out of curiosity, what mp3 player are you using and what's your use case? I
feel like I haven't seen anyone using a dedicated mp3 player in a long time.

~~~
thallian
Not OP but these are my reasons if you're interested.

I've been using Rockbox for more than 10 years and know the interface by heart
(there was one occasion where the screen broke on a player but I could still
use it perfectly fine, by counting the button presses) so one part is just
simple habit.

There is no personal information on the device, so there is no need to lock it
and for me to try and unlock it in a hurry and if I lose it it's only
annoying.

I really like the physical buttons, I don't have to look at the thing to do
stuff (yes, there are other solutions to this).

Battery life is usually excellent.

At the moment I'm using a SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip. Once that thing breaks I'll
probably just use my streaming server (via airsonic) on my phone and yell at
the touchscreen because I have no idea what dedicated player is still usable
with rockbox (apart from the refurbished old ones).

------
scandox
I would love to work in the audiobook space. Anyone aware of exciting
opportunities, unexplored ideas?

I’m a developer with a very wide (and doubtless shallow) experience. And I
love audio books.

I use Audible a lot but I do rue Amazon’s excessive dominance in this space.

~~~
petra
I think there's an unexplored niche in searching and reading aloud web
content, at least on Android.

There's no easy to find app that lets me easily search and play interesting
articles , easily. There's also nothing that fits the context of doing
something else and wanting a stream of interesting stuff according to a search
query.

And recently there were big.leaps in quality if machine speech.

And maybe there's some role to play for hands-free dialogue with the machine.

And because it is a tool for learning , not just enterntainment , you may be
able to justify a reasonable monthly subscription - if the app is effective.

------
walterbell
[http://Voicedream.com](http://Voicedream.com) for iOS has high quality voices
in many languages and can read non-DRM epub, pdf, word, html. One-time
purchase.

------
ggg9990
Shout out to MyAnonaMouse.net for a good audiobook private tracker

------
geuis
My biggest gripe with audible is their web UI. Since it’s literally the only
way to purchase books, you’d think they would spend more effort in this area.
I have a few hundred books in my library and probably spend $30-$60 a month on
credits. The 2 credit a month subscription isn’t enough for me, so I’ll
typically get that plus another 3-6 credits a month.

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ScoutOrgo
In my experience, audiobooks cost too much. They are more expensive than
digital or hard copies, and the "subscription" is just monthly book credits. I
get netflix for $11/month for _unlimited_ use. Wish amazon would get something
similar.

~~~
e1ven
I buy Audible credits, which come out to ~10/book.

I don't see an option for them on the non-logged in page, but I buy a set of
them, and then can use them how I want, not per month.

While the Netflix model is nice for residual content, 90% of the books I want
are available on Audible - I'd rather have that selection than a more limited
selection I could get in a subscription model.

I think some places do a subscription, though - Have you looked at Playster?

~~~
exhilaration
That's interesting, I don't see the option to buy a credit on Audible but I've
got the $15/mo subscription, maybe that's only available to non-subscribers.
Could you post the URL to the credit-purchase page?

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doikor
And here I'm just hoping that Audible would extend its selection to even most
of the recent (~10 years) big hits. I can't even get ready player one
audiobook here in Europe in English (only available in German)

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djhworld
Out of interest, does anyone "read" non fiction audiobooks on Audible or other
platforms?

~~~
kabdib
Definitely. I've listened to a bunch of traditional history books, as well as
science and technology (e.g., _Soul of a New Machine_, _The Making of the
Atomic Bomb_).

------
dalbasal
OK, this is rant-ish

I hope they don't succeed. Not for the benefit of "traditional" publishers,
but to keep the space open for innovators.

I like my kindle, and I'm happy-ish with my audible subscription (apart from
the subscription part). but I'm disapointed with Amazon's lack of market
disruption.

Usually, a medium change is more impactful than the ebook revolution has been
so far. Famously, when magazines were new and exciting, whole new types of
content emerged. Serialized stories (like sherlock holmes), short stories,
home and garden stuff, fashion stuff, gossip... types of writing that weren't
popular before, but found a home in magazines.

When paperbacks emerged, whole new styles emerged. The combination of larger,
wider reader-base aand lower price point allowed books to be more frivolous.
You could have trashy romatic novels, scifi, diet books... Writers could write
in a more more coloquial, working class dialects (think catcher in the rye).
Dime books did something similar a century before that, and birthed teen
fiction. Pamphlets published a century before that laid down the basis for our
current political culture.

eBooks..... Amazon seems to have actively pursued a strategy whereby books go
digital, but nothing else changes.... as little as possible anyway. Publishers
(now fronting no costs, printing no books, and doing little to promote sales^)
get to have their business models unaltered, with the author's cut staying in
the 10-20% range. Price points are maintained. The physical limitations (like
word count) are of the old medium are maintained.

Where are the "medium-is-the-message" changes. Where are the short stories
(great for author discovery)? Where is the 75% author royalty (possible via
"self publishing," but still a slightly shamedl 2nd class citizen). Where is
the new serialized novel boom, the author interaction. The new type of book.
Where's the 25c price point (Amazon's the perfect place for micropayments).

Where is the reader-backed advance. You hear authors beg for pre-orders on
amazon, so that publishers will advance them for their next book. This should
be a "pledge" button, with amazon advancing the author the actual amount.
..and they should have a default place to beg. If one of the authors I read
wants to write me something, I want to read it. Give me a feed.

Also, the monopoly is a bad thing. The format/library/platform lock-in is a
bad thing (even worse on audible). Do authors want me to lose access when I
switch ereaders or unsubscribe from audible?

Most nonfiction in a high street window display is 25% content, 75% filler.
Everyone is bound by the page-count of a "normal book." Think of Rich Dad Poor
Dad or 4-hour workweek, Tyler Cowen... They can't sell a 70 page book so they
add fluff. Amazon could. I'd like to read them, especially for a cheaper
price.

Where is the social discovery? I'm sick of average reviews. I want to see bill
gates' reviews, my brothers'. Where is the online book club?

There is so much more ebooks could be doing. Amazon isn't doing it. Pubishers
won't do it. But, if the space was clear, my guess is that someone would show
up.

^ From what I can tell, publishers now have two jobs. One is editing. The
second is gatekeeping+financing, the advance. This is essentially sorting
books into will/won't sell 5,000 copies piles.

With less than 0.1% of their gross revenue, Amazon could provide an entry
level advance ($10k-ish) + editor fees to twenty thousand authors. They have
the data to predict sales better than publishers anyway. If authors can get
the full cut, sales required to pay back an advance would be cut to a
fraction. How's that for original content... netflix?!!

~~~
GCU-Empiricist
>Where is the online book club?

Goodreads: [https://www.goodreads.com/](https://www.goodreads.com/)

~~~
Infinitesimus
(Owned by Amazon, in case grandparent wants to avoid everything amazon)

