Monday, September 17, 2007
Will EMusic Broaden Audio Books' Appeal?
Audio books have been touted as a breakthrough e-commerce service for more than a dozen years, yet the industry is tiny compared to online music. EMusic is looking to convert its user base of younger fans of alternative music into book listeners through a new service. For $9.99 per month you can listen to one book, while $19.99 gives you two books per month.The company is offering the tracks in MP3 format, which unlike iTunes or Audible books, can be delivered directly to the widest variety of digital audio players. According to eMusic the recordings are encoded at twice the audio quality, although I'm not so sure that matters for the spoken word. This will open up audio books to a new audience, but it's a fair argument to argue that only iTunes matters today. However, media companies have been pushing back on Apple's dominance (see NBC), so there seems to be some opportunity for other companies.
I've tried listening to audio books online or in the car, but I can't concentrate on driving or work when I'm listening to a book like I can with music. Maybe I should try listening while working out. I still prefer to cradle a book during the scarce time that I get to read.
The worldwide market for digital audiobooks and other spoken word is expected to grow from $138.6 million in 2006 to $201.1 million in 2007, an increase of 45 percent, according to Piper Jaffray & Co. projections cited by eMusic.
Posted By John Gartner at 10:09 AM
Permanent Link: Will EMusic Broaden Audio Books' Appeal?
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