Spotify enters the audiobook arena

rguion · 10-06-2023, 05:41 PM

This week it was announced that Spotify subscribers in the UK, Australia, and, in the winter, the US will be able to stream 15 hours of premium audiobooks each month.They could also purchase additional 10 hours of audiobook listening for $10.99.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/3/2...amazon-pushkin

It doesn’t really impact me as I don’t use Spotify. What do you guys think of the Spotify prices? And is it better/worse than Audible? It doesn’t seem that good. I just got Patrick Stewart’s autobiography, Making It So, which is nearly 19 hours, for one Audible credit. $15 for the credit. If had to buy Spotify credits for that, it would have been $22.

JSWolf · 10-06-2023, 08:08 PM

So if your audiobook is long enough, you only get to listen to some of it and then you have to wait until next month. That's rather useless (IMHO).

DNSB · 10-06-2023, 08:46 PM

Jon, read the original message. You can listen to part of the book (15 hours) and then pay $10.99 for another 10 hours to finish the book. This assumes that you can finish the book in that 25 hour span.

Quoth · 10-07-2023, 03:34 AM

About 1.5 hours per 10,000 words. Maybe more.

It's a crazy way to consume audiobooks as it needs mobile/WiFi on for the whole time? Perhaps I misunderstand it.

Makes more sense to download in entirety.

Well, unless they have exclusives (and no retail should have exclusives on creative content), no-one is forced to use it and it might suit some.

dordale · 10-07-2023, 12:44 PM

Hmmm....It will be interesting. I already have a Spotify premium subscription to listen to music, so I assume I'll be able to get some of my audiobooks through Spotify starting this winter sometime. I assume that if I choose a book that's over 15 hours long (say 25 hours), I could listen to 15 hours one month and then finish it up the next month.

If I were going to buy a subscription just to listen to audiobooks I'd go with audible as their model makes more sense for audiobooks, but it seems like it will be a nice add-on for those who already have a Spotify subscription and also enjoy listening to audiobooks.

tomsem · 10-07-2023, 06:07 PM

I do not like this trend.

If I have a music streaming subscription, it is not 'better' if it includes audiobooks and podcasts. In fact it is just a distraction from what I signed up for. What have podcasts (or audiobooks) have in common with music? Only my ears.

Amazon Music also includes podcasts 'for free'. As does Audible.

Most podcasts (at least the only ones I will listen to) are already free. Even where some are exclusive to the service, I see it as watering down the service I signed up for. They save money because they are not paying royalties AFAICT.

Moreover the features that serve podcasts and audiobooks best are different than those for music. Better to have separate apps IMO.

I cancelled Audible recently. I don't have time for it and the app is full of recommendations and gets in the way of actually listening to things. Fortunately there is OpenAudible and I can use a more functional app.

I used to have long commutes to consume audiobooks and podcasts (with road noise, music wasn't really workable) but those are gone. And now I'd rather listen to music. I have been paring down my podcast subscriptions and skipping about 80 % of what I'm still downloading without a listen.

Aleron Ives · 10-07-2023, 06:47 PM

Is having audiobooks and podcasts really a distraction when you could just... not listen to them?

haertig · 10-07-2023, 07:06 PM

I never thought Audibles prices were good. And Spotify's appear even worse. Might as well just hire the author to come over to your house and read the book to you, it'd probably be cheaper.

For audiobooks, I look at what my library offers for free, and choose from that. But I admit, I am not a big audiobook listener. Only occasionally. The charges to stream a book seem quite high to me. But to each his own.

Dr. Drib · 10-08-2023, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haertig

I never thought Audibles prices were good. And Spotify's appear even worse. Might as well just hire the author to come over to your house and read the book to you, it'd probably be cheaper.

For audiobooks, I look at what my library offers for free, and choose from that. But I admit, I am not a big audiobook listener. Only occasionally. The charges to stream a book seem quite high to me. But to each his own.

I'm sure Stephen King will take you up on that offer. Or perhaps Haruki Murakami? I'm sure they'll tell you where to make your deposits.

(We can both be a bit ridiculous in our assertions. Right?)

Quoth · 10-08-2023, 08:48 AM

I think you'd have to pay about $2,500 to an unknown narrator to narrate the average novel. I think that's cheap.

As to how much a "successfully published author" would charge? Should be more if they can do it. Many would be poorer than decent text to speech. A totally different skill to either writing or acting (only some actors are any good at it). It needs practice. Also what you hear on a commercial audio book is not the work of a single person, even if only one is reading, and is likely edited.

Google/Alphabet hopes to get their text to speech good enough to automatically produce audio books from text, and then sell these giving the author a percentage (but only because the material is copyright).

DiapDealer · 10-08-2023, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

Google/Alphabet hopes to get their text to speech good enough to automatically produce audio books from text, and then sell these giving the author a percentage (but only because the material is copyright).

Google aren't the only people who wouldn't pay the author a dime if the material weren't copyrighted.

Quoth · 10-08-2023, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Google aren't the only people who wouldn't pay the author a dime if the material weren't copyrighted.

Of course not. But the point is that Google are now promoting their text to speech to Google Books Publishing Accounts as a solution to publish Audiobooks. Google are scanning everything without paying any royalty or getting permission. Successfully lobbied in USA to get the previously illegal activity made legal.

No-one is going to pay sufficiently dead people and despite some USA local laws/procedures the default is that copyright is automatic, no need to register, as soon as a work is created.

It lasts too long after death, but that's a different issue.

haertig · 10-08-2023, 05:30 PM

I can't believe there were people who actually took my tongue-in-cheek comment to hire the author to read the book seriously.

DiapDealer · 10-08-2023, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

Of course not. But the point is that Google are now promoting their text to speech to Google Books Publishing Accounts as a solution to publish Audiobooks. Google are scanning everything without paying any royalty or getting permission. Successfully lobbied in USA to get the previously illegal activity made legal.

The point is that Google is not going to publish/sell a single audiobook made from copyrighted material without the copyright holder's permission. How that content gets created is going to be between Google and the rightsholder. It's a nothingburger that you're trying to make sound nefarious.

And "found not to be illegal" is not the same thing as "previously illegal activity made legal." Your anti Corp bias is showing.

Quoth · 10-09-2023, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's a nothingburger that you're trying to make sound nefarious.

And "found not to be illegal" is not the same thing as "previously illegal activity made legal." Your anti Corp bias is showing.

I'm not trying to make it sound nefarious.

You are also quibbling and sounding like a Google cheerleader. Why should any human be pro-Corp for corp that act like laws are only for consumers and use their money to get laws that suit them?

10-06-2023, 05:41 PM	#1
rguion Zealot Posts: 121 Karma: 623810 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bay Area, CA Device: Kindle Oasis	Spotify enters the audiobook arena This week it was announced that Spotify subscribers in the UK, Australia, and, in the winter, the US will be able to stream 15 hours of premium audiobooks each month.They could also purchase additional 10 hours of audiobook listening for $10.99. https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/3/2...amazon-pushkin It doesn’t really impact me as I don’t use Spotify. What do you guys think of the Spotify prices? And is it better/worse than Audible? It doesn’t seem that good. I just got Patrick Stewart’s autobiography, Making It So, which is nearly 19 hours, for one Audible credit. $15 for the credit. If had to buy Spotify credits for that, it would have been $22.

10-07-2023, 06:07 PM	#6
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	I do not like this trend. If I have a music streaming subscription, it is not 'better' if it includes audiobooks and podcasts. In fact it is just a distraction from what I signed up for. What have podcasts (or audiobooks) have in common with music? Only my ears. Amazon Music also includes podcasts 'for free'. As does Audible. Most podcasts (at least the only ones I will listen to) are already free. Even where some are exclusive to the service, I see it as watering down the service I signed up for. They save money because they are not paying royalties AFAICT. Moreover the features that serve podcasts and audiobooks best are different than those for music. Better to have separate apps IMO. I cancelled Audible recently. I don't have time for it and the app is full of recommendations and gets in the way of actually listening to things. Fortunately there is OpenAudible and I can use a more functional app. I used to have long commutes to consume audiobooks and podcasts (with road noise, music wasn't really workable) but those are gone. And now I'd rather listen to music. I have been paring down my podcast subscriptions and skipping about 80 % of what I'm still downloading without a listen. Last edited by tomsem; 10-07-2023 at 06:36 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Spotify is acquiring an audiobook company	Apache	News	2	01-02-2022 11:06 PM
Audiobook not showing up in Kindle app for shared Immersion Reading ebook/audiobook	truth1ness	Amazon Kindle	3	07-03-2018 07:17 PM
Short Fiction Tarkington, Booth: In The Arena (Illustrated). v1, 13 Mar 2012	GrannyGrump	ePub Books	0	03-13-2012 04:59 AM
Borders UK enters administration	Nate the great	News	31	12-04-2009 12:21 PM

10-06-2023, 08:08 PM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,003 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	So if your audiobook is long enough, you only get to listen to some of it and then you have to wait until next month. That's rather useless (IMHO).

10-06-2023, 08:46 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 35,464 Karma: 145525534 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Jon, read the original message. You can listen to part of the book (15 hours) and then pay $10.99 for another 10 hours to finish the book. This assumes that you can finish the book in that 25 hour span.

10-07-2023, 03:34 AM	#4
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,161 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	About 1.5 hours per 10,000 words. Maybe more. It's a crazy way to consume audiobooks as it needs mobile/WiFi on for the whole time? Perhaps I misunderstand it. Makes more sense to download in entirety. Well, unless they have exclusives (and no retail should have exclusives on creative content), no-one is forced to use it and it might suit some.

10-07-2023, 12:44 PM	#5
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Hmmm....It will be interesting. I already have a Spotify premium subscription to listen to music, so I assume I'll be able to get some of my audiobooks through Spotify starting this winter sometime. I assume that if I choose a book that's over 15 hours long (say 25 hours), I could listen to 15 hours one month and then finish it up the next month. If I were going to buy a subscription just to listen to audiobooks I'd go with audible as their model makes more sense for audiobooks, but it seems like it will be a nice add-on for those who already have a Spotify subscription and also enjoy listening to audiobooks.

10-07-2023, 06:47 PM	#7
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,026 Karma: 11500112 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Is having audiobooks and podcasts really a distraction when you could just... not listen to them?

10-07-2023, 07:06 PM	#8
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,738 Karma: 26006874 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	I never thought Audibles prices were good. And Spotify's appear even worse. Might as well just hire the author to come over to your house and read the book to you, it'd probably be cheaper. For audiobooks, I look at what my library offers for free, and choose from that. But I admit, I am not a big audiobook listener. Only occasionally. The charges to stream a book seem quite high to me. But to each his own.

10-08-2023, 08:48 AM	#10
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,161 Karma: 85874891 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I think you'd have to pay about $2,500 to an unknown narrator to narrate the average novel. I think that's cheap. As to how much a "successfully published author" would charge? Should be more if they can do it. Many would be poorer than decent text to speech. A totally different skill to either writing or acting (only some actors are any good at it). It needs practice. Also what you hear on a commercial audio book is not the work of a single person, even if only one is reading, and is likely edited. Google/Alphabet hopes to get their text to speech good enough to automatically produce audio books from text, and then sell these giving the author a percentage (but only because the material is copyright).

10-08-2023, 05:30 PM	#13
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,738 Karma: 26006874 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	I can't believe there were people who actually took my tongue-in-cheek comment to hire the author to read the book seriously.

Advert

Advert