MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Tantor Media to Begin Selling Downloads Only.

GtrsRGr8 · 03-26-2017, 12:21 AM

Tantor Media is going to a download-only business model for selling its audiobooks.

From their homepage just now:
Effective the week of March 20, 2017, Tantor Audio CDs and MP3-CDs will not be available for direct purchase on our Website; the physical products will be available for purchase through major retailers. The book pages on our Website will link you to the correct page on Amazon for purchase. Select Tantor audiobook downloads on our Website will continue to be available for purchase.

In case you don't have a calendar handy, we are in the week of March 20 now.

I think that this is a great move on Tantor's part. It is sooooo expensive, not to mention bothersome, to deal with physical inventory. If they can find retailers that will take their physical inventory off of their hands, and let them just sell digital download products, it will be a huge help to them.

Early in my adoption of ebooks and digital audiobooks, I bought a lot of regular CD's of audiobooks in order to save space (I've got so many dead-tree books that the walls of my house are practically bulging out. ha). Bad move. If I had bought only MP3 audiobooks, yes, I would have saved quite a bit of room. But I didn't always do that, and the size of the clamshell with all of the CD's in them end up being almost as large as the dead-tree book. If I going to buy the physical CD product, I can see no reason to purchase anything other than MP3's! I mean, it's not like I'll be listening to Johann S. Bach's “Toccata in d minor”--I'm just be listening to someone narrate an book! MP3 quality is just fine for that! You live and you learn.

So, I say why fool with CD's--at all. I won't be shedding any tears over companies going to digital downloads only. Besides, if in one of my less sane moments, I decide that I want CD's, it looks like there will be companies out there, for the foreseeable future, that still will sell them.

BTW--If you've never listened to a Tantor Media product, I must tell you that they are consistently very good in audio quality, etc. I've run into some companies in which that is not true. I'll leave off mentioning any names . . . .

http://www.tantor.com.

03-26-2017, 12:21 AM	#1
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	Tantor Media to Begin Selling Downloads Only. Tantor Media is going to a download-only business model for selling its audiobooks. From their homepage just now: Effective the week of March 20, 2017, Tantor Audio CDs and MP3-CDs will not be available for direct purchase on our Website; the physical products will be available for purchase through major retailers. The book pages on our Website will link you to the correct page on Amazon for purchase. Select Tantor audiobook downloads on our Website will continue to be available for purchase. In case you don't have a calendar handy, we are in the week of March 20 now. I think that this is a great move on Tantor's part. It is sooooo expensive, not to mention bothersome, to deal with physical inventory. If they can find retailers that will take their physical inventory off of their hands, and let them just sell digital download products, it will be a huge help to them. Early in my adoption of ebooks and digital audiobooks, I bought a lot of regular CD's of audiobooks in order to save space (I've got so many dead-tree books that the walls of my house are practically bulging out. ha). Bad move. If I had bought only MP3 audiobooks, yes, I would have saved quite a bit of room. But I didn't always do that, and the size of the clamshell with all of the CD's in them end up being almost as large as the dead-tree book. If I going to buy the physical CD product, I can see no reason to purchase anything other than MP3's! I mean, it's not like I'll be listening to Johann S. Bach's “Toccata in d minor”--I'm just be listening to someone narrate an book! MP3 quality is just fine for that! You live and you learn. So, I say why fool with CD's--at all. I won't be shedding any tears over companies going to digital downloads only. Besides, if in one of my less sane moments, I decide that I want CD's, it looks like there will be companies out there, for the foreseeable future, that still will sell them. BTW--If you've never listened to a Tantor Media product, I must tell you that they are consistently very good in audio quality, etc. I've run into some companies in which that is not true. I'll leave off mentioning any names . . . . http://www.tantor.com. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 03-26-2017 at 12:39 AM.