Audiobooks are going big
Oct 3, 2022
Listen On...
In a continuation of the previous blog post, where we expounded on Spotify deciding to dip into the audiobook market, this week I write a follow up on that explaining how big the audiobook market actually is and glorify it’s potential in it’s rawest form while at the same time highlighting what does that mean for you as a creator or as an author, or maybe just as a person who wants to hear the latest edition of Jeffery Archer’s works on his taxi ride rather than carry the physical burden of a book around, to every place you’ve ever been to. Before diving in, however it's important to understand what audiobooks are, and how they may change the course of literature as we know.
Audiobooks in a narrow sense are voice-recorded versions of books by the actual author themselves or other voice artists. Audiobooks are non-exclusively beneficial for people who like to multitask, people who don't have a knack for English or even people with reading or viewing disabilities. Now with the ever changing content market, audiobooks have seen a geometric rise to the top of the scalar chain, multi-billion corporations such as Amazon and Spotify have also joined the cause and are on course to make audiobooks a 35.05 Billion dollar industry by the end of 2030, a CAGR of 26.34%.
Seeing this potential and the ease by which audiobooks can be delivered, packaged and integrated into play, pause, forward and rewind features and accessed on almost any digital platform, ultimately makes them more appealing than their paperback counterparts. On top of this, the pandemic accelerate the industry growth, while pushing the audiobook market to gain relevance and traction, owing again to its easy accessibility and convenience. Apart from the pandemic and the information overflow, the growing presence of audiobook subscription start-ups has made audiobooks' consumption through the roof. To put it more delicately, audiobook startups have managed to keep the demand side in rational check and order with the supply side.
And here are are some crazy numbers to support the fact that exhibits how rapidly people are switching to audiobooks:-
In the U.S., in 2021, 56% of audiobook listeners were below the age of 45, which is an increase of 52% from 2020.
55% of the users listened to audiobooks mostly at home, followed by 30% of users listening to audiobooks in cars.
Over 71,000 audiobooks were published in 2020, with the percentage of youngsters under the age of 17 listening to audiobooks increasing from 35% to 49%.
Just like before, in 2021 as well, the fiction genre remained the most popular in audiobooks, accounting for around 65.0% of the total revenue share.
Having established, the dominance and relevance of the audiobook industry in the times to come, it's time for you to zoom out and think how you can benefit from this about to happen surge in culture, an audio wave is about to hit the content world and it's up to you to ride it or squander the opportunity, and when you do eventually end up making your mind as an audio creator, we'll be there for you, providing world class and efficient facilities in helping you to achieve that goal. Think Smart, Think NarrationBox.
Data and numbers from an annual survey conducted by Audio Publishers Association (APA) for Global Audiobooks Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report 2022.