Posted Oct 3, 2022, 7:00 AM
Even in the audiobook industry, you have to know how to walk the talk. And the audio streaming giant, Spotify, will not be long in coming. At the end of September, the group announced that it was going to make more than 300,000 audiobooks available to its American users, relying on the Findaway catalog, which the Swedish recently completed the acquisition for 117 million euros. .
An illustration of Spotify’s ambitions in the audio book, which will only offer the pay-per-view model for the time being. “Audiobooks are going to be a massive opportunity […] at $70 billion a year. […] As we did on the podcast, get ready for us to play to win,” group CEO Daniel Ek said in June.
In 2021, this market represented 4.2 billion dollars worldwide, according to Grand View Research, which estimates that the audiobook should weigh 15 billion by 2027. One fact is certain: the annual growth of the market is in double digits and will not weaken in the years to come.
“Containment has considerably developed the use of this format, in particular children’s books, which made it possible to keep children away from screens. People have also rediscovered it with the rise of the podcast, underlines Liza Faja, director of Lizzie, the audio book publisher of Editis, number 2 in publishing in France. Users no longer only listen to audio books during limited travel times, but also at home, and increasingly with family. »
In France, the number of audio-readers rose to nearly 10 million last year, according to the National Union of Publishing (SNE), Sofia (the collective management body for library lending rights) and the Society of Men of Letters. That is an increase of 8.7% over one year.
Usage is still very mixed in France, between reading on ebooks and audio books, and we prefer to have the widest possible offer.
Hélène Merillon France Manager of Nextory
“In France, the audio book market weighs nearly 100 million euros,” said Serge Torossian, head of Storytel in France, where the Swedish group has just launched with a 100% audio book offer. The latter was preceded on the French market by his compatriot Nextory, which landed thanks to the takeover of the French firm Youboox.
Nextory offers, in addition to audio books, access to press, podcasts or e-books. “Use is still very mixed in France, between reading on ebooks and audio books, and we prefer to have the widest possible offer”, notes Hélène Merillon, France manager of Nextory, seeking to differentiate itself in the competitive fray.
“Audio books are no longer a niche market”
“The arrival of new entrants confirms that the audio book is no longer a niche market but a leverage one. Competition contributes to its growth since many investments are still necessary to reach the level of mature markets, such as the United States or the Nordic countries”, argues Bertrand Etienne, general manager of Audible France, where the group is (largely ) industry leader.
In mid-September, Audible also launched an offer allowing unlimited listening to audio books in France. A formula that Lizzie will test by making available a tiny part of its catalog background (old titles), but not Audiolib (subsidiary of Albin Michel and Hachette), opposed to any “netflixization” of the sector.
All the publishers agree, on the other hand, on the unit sale or credit model (for 10 euros a month, users have access to an audio book per month) and above all on the “hours package” (one-time access to 15 hours of audio playback or more per month) – set up by Nextory or Storytel -, which makes it possible to develop the use of the audiobook without exposing their catalog in an unlimited way.
Common ground found between distributors and publishers which largely explains the growth of this market; the latter perceive audio books as additional revenue and a source of growth capable of expanding the book market by reaching users who are not very fond of the paper format.
Concomitant releases In fact, the French leader in the sector, Hachette (via Audiolib), and Editis (Lizzie) have signed “deals” with Kobo, Audible, Nextory, Storytel, as well as Google and Apple, not hesitating to release sometimes simultaneously their best-sellers in physical and audio format. This year, Audiolib and Lizzie will each produce around 200 audiobooks in French.
“On average, the production of an audiobook costs 6,000 to 10,000 euros, and our breakeven point is around 2,500 audiobooks sold. Not all of them are profitable, but we are in a period of conquering the market and we have to invest, explains Valérie Lévy-Soussan, CEO of Audiolib. Today, the best sales for audio books in France are around 50,000 copies. The biggest hits do even better. At Audiolib, the record was set by “Sapiens”, by Yuval Noah Harari, with more than 120,000 sales. By comparison, physical books awarded a Goncourt have generated around 350,000 sales in recent years.
“A good card to play”
Still, the distribution of audio books is not a market confined to tech giants and “pure players” such as Nextory or Storytel. In the United States, Barnes & Noble – the country’s main bookstore chain – launched its service in April, offering access to 300,000 titles for a monthly subscription of 15 dollars. For its part, the Swedish publisher Bonnier had done the same a few years ago by launching its own offer.
In France, Lizzie has also launched its application. “But we are agnostic on the platforms and are present everywhere, explains Clément Pelletier, director of development at Editis, where he manages the audio division. With all the new entrants, there will be increased competition for the strongest intellectual properties, and that’s where we’re going to have a good card to play. “Especially since Spotify will inevitably end up deploying its offer in France and since, for months, rumors from the hallway have suggested that a certain Apple is considering launching a subscription offer to its catalog of audio books…
