News from the Audiobook Industry

[tubemonkey]

How RBmedia Came to Life

It would be difficult to find a private equity company that has more faith in the audiobook market than Shamrock Capital Advisors. The firm was the underbidder when Wasserstein & Co. bought Recorded Books in January 2014, and when Wasserstein was looking to sell Recorded Books 18 months later, Shamrock stepped up and did the deal. Shamrock made its most recent move in the audiobook market in April when it simultaneously announced the acquisition of Audiobooks.com, the app-based audiobook streaming and download service, and the creation of RBmedia, the company that now holds Audiobooks.com as well as all of Recorded Books’ old divisions.

The purchase of Audiobooks.com and the formation of RBmedia represent a progression of the original vision that Shamrock had for audio when it bought RB in August 2015, according to Shea. “We could see three major trends happening in the market driving the consumption of spoken audio as well as other forms of digital content,” he said. The first is the desire of busy consumers who don’t have time to sit and read books but want to be able to multitask—drive, commute, exercise—while listening to entertaining content. The second trend Shea cited is the evolution of mobile technology and proliferation of mobile devices, which enables people to listen to spoken-word content more easily than ever. The final trend is the recent strong growth of the digital audiobook market and the mass adoption of podcasts, which are, he said, “a gateway into the consumption of other audio forms.”

Shea said more acquisitions could be forthcoming. “We see many opportunities to acquire companies that will provide us with new content sources as well as help us expand the capabilities and reach of our technology platform. Since we have the backing of a major private equity firm, we have the resources to make future acquisitions happen.”

RBmedia

RBmedia is a global leader in spoken audio content and digital media distribution technology that reaches millions of consumers — at home, in the car, and wherever their mobile devices take them. RBmedia produces exclusive titles and delivers the finest digital content and information — including audiobooks, educational courses, entertainment titles, and much more.

RBmedia is the largest audiobook publisher in the world

Publishing Imprints: Recorded Books, HighBridge Audio, Tantor Media, WF Howes, Wavesound, ChristianAudio

Technology Platforms: Audiobooks.com, RBdigital (OneClickdigital, Zinio for Libraries)
.

[pwalker8]

Hum. I do want competition in the audiobook industry, but I sure hope they don't try to go with a proprietary cloud service. There is no way in the world I would buy an audiobook that I could only listen to that way.

[tubemonkey]

Audible Launches $5 Million Fund to Pay Emerging Playwrights to Write Audio Dramas

The NY Times reports that Amazon's latest PR campaign centers on a $5 million fund for creating audio works:

The program is going to fund around a dozen playwrights to start.

“They’re actually getting paid to write a play,” Leigh Silverman, a member of the advisory board, said of the grant recipients. “That’s a rare thing, and it’s an important thing.”

[tubemonkey]

Recorded Books Unveils Revolutionary New RBdigital App

This new app combines OneClickdigital and Zinio for Libraries into a single app.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

For the first time in the industry, library patrons can access audiobooks, magazines, and eBooks all in one easy-to-use mobile app

Landover, MD, June 22, 2017 — Recorded Books, an RBmedia company, today announced the launch of RBdigital™ — bringing together libraries’ top-circulating digital media into a single mobile app. The functionality in both OneClickdigital™ and Zinio™ for Libraries — two leading library lending apps currently in use by thousands of libraries around the world — is now seamlessly merged into the new RBdigital app.

“We’re proud to be the first to make audiobooks, magazines, and eBooks available in one location on mobile devices,” says Tom MacIsaac, Chief Executive Officer of RBmedia. “This new unified app provides the best mobile experience in the industry. With RBdigital, library patrons will find it easier than ever before to discover and access their favorite content on their smartphones and tablets.”

The all-new RBdigital app delivers:

● Exclusive audiobooks — only RBdigital delivers access to the Recorded Books proprietary catalog, including thousands of premium audiobooks as well as a broad array of other spoken audio content.
● The largest collection of digital magazines — including complete, downloadable, full-color digital editions (many with interactive features).
● Best-selling and award-winning eBooks by top authors.
● An extensive list of new features — including easier navigation, enhanced search, in-app previews, and easier checkouts and renewals.

“The RBdigital app enables us to offer a great collection to our patrons. They will appreciate the one-stop experience of checking out and reading items in the same app,” says Melody Dworak, Collections Librarian, Iowa City Public Library.

To make it as easy as possible for libraries to adopt the new app, Recorded Books also offers live training webinars to get new users up to speed, as well as free technical support for patrons and library staff.

[skinmaan]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...ogs/539529001/

Take a look over in freebies for links to the Caesar Millan titles.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...ogs/539529001/

Take a look over in freebies for links to the Caesar Millan titles.

Interesting

Don't have any doggies. I have kittehs. I wonder if they like audiobooks?

Anyway, here's the landing page for this new feature with links to two free audiobooks:

Audible for Dogs

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Interesting

Don't have any doggies. I have kittehs. I wonder if they like audiobooks?

Anyway, here's the landing page for this new feature with links to two free audiobooks:

Audible for Dogs

Knowing what I know about kittens and yarn, this seems like a somewhat dangerous lifestyle choice for you, my friend.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

Knowing what I know about kittens and yarn, this seems like a somewhat dangerous lifestyle choice for you, my friend.

...I like living on the fringe

[tubemonkey]

HarperCollins’ Audiobooks Now Available Though bibliotheca’s cloudLibrary

Back in June HarperCollins was one of several major publishers that started distributing their ebooks and audobooks to libraries through pay-per-use services like Freading.

Now the publisher is adding another library vendor for its audiobooks. Blbioteca has announced that HarperCollins has signed a deal to distribute audiobooks through its cloudLibrary (formerly 3M Cloud Library).

[tubemonkey]

RBmedia Buys Gildan Media

RBmedia, which produces and distributes audibooks, has made its second acquisition of the year, buying Gildan Media for an undisclosed price.

Founded in 2007 by former Simon & Schuster Audio head Gilles Dana, Gildan specializes in producing audiobooks in the business and personal development areas. It has a catalogue of approximately 2,200 titles and releases about 250 new audios annually.

Troy Juliar, chief content officer for RBmedia, said Gildan fits well with RBMedia in that Gildan's focus on nonfiction complements RBmedia's strength in fiction. Juliar said with Gildan, he sees some "green spaces" in nonfiction where RBmedia can grow.

Dana will continue to oversee Gildan's day-to-day operations and the company will remain based in New York.

[skinmaan]

Not my genre but it may interest some of you.

Audible’s new service helps romance novel fans skip straight to ‘the good part’

Audible is banking that listeners will swoon over its new unlimited-access offering.

The Amazon subsidiary on Wednesday launched the Audible Romance package, a new all-inclusive content service for fans of romance novels. It costs $14.95 per month for the standalone service and $6.95 per month for existing Audible and Kindle Unlimited members. Subscribers will have access to more than 10,000 romance audio books, including original content.

Audible Romance comes with additional features. The new “Take Me to the Good Part” function identifies major plot points — yes, including the sultrier moments — using algorithms and allows listeners to skip ahead in the story. And the “Steaminess Score” keys listeners in to the level of passion they can expect from a given title on a five-point scale from ‘Sweet’ to ‘O-O-OMG.’

skinmaan

[booklover6]

I signed up. Love it. But the only reason I would use the"skip to the good part" feature is if the book was boring me.

[Blossom]

I'd never use skip to the good part unless I lost my place and it was during a sexy time. I don't read romance for sex. I read romance for romance.

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Catlady]

I hope you both try out the feature, though. I'm curious to know how well it works.