THE EMERGENCE OF THE AUDIO BOOK

“It’s a bit like Peckham”. The director of audio at HarperCollins Jo Forshaw compares the audio industry to the area of South London, elaborating that “it’s been up and coming for years and now it’s finally happening.”

In retrospect, it was extremely rare occurrence for the publisher to purchase the audio rights to the book when signing with an author. Now, everything has changed. With 125 million listening hours consumed outside the US., and 725 million downloaded hours of storytelling, the industry is booming.

Whilst reading “Ten Days That Shock the World”, an account of the Russian Revolution, the idea of audiobooks randomly came to Don Katz. Little did he know that this idea go his would shock and completely change the publishing industry. Later, he founded the company Audible in 1995, however after selling the rights to Amazon in 2008, Katz remained in charge of the company.

By centralising audiobooks as a part of our daily lives, Katz is indirectly bringing back the ancient tradition of verbal storytelling, and places it af the heart of the digital revolution. “I’d always loved the oral elements in writing - dialogue that brings people to life”, the founder states, highlighting his need to celebrate the sound of literature.

iPods and iTunes really did help expedite the digital revolution, however, four years prior to the emergence of the apple inventions, Katz collaborated closely with a computer scientist and actualised the very first portable audio player. The object was proclaimed to be even lighter and much more compact than the walkman. The invention of this caught the attention of Apple founder Steve Jobs. This secretive conference later lead to audiobooks conveniently gaining access to iTunes and available on the iPod.

Some people might have had a difficult time transitioning from reading a physical copy of a book to using a Kindle or another form of tablet, but it is increasingly becoming more acceptable to use. Britain’s leading audio publisher, W F Howes, reported an incredibly spike in growth, stating that “if a title is No 1 in books, it’s No 1 in audio, too”.

Katz suggests, that the success behind the audiobook is due to the average individual’s reminiscence of their childhood, labelling the experience as “warm and luxurious”.

Interestingly enough, Sarah Shrubb, publisher at Hechette Audio, suggests that the term “audiobook” is outdated and she accordingly names the books of the digital realm as “stories”. Or perhaps, the audiobook phenomenon is because it simply encourages people to read more, making it more accessible and convenient. One do not need to carry around a 600 page book any longer. Now, one can store as many books as desired on one product and this is all thanks to the digital revolution.

Written by Emilie Rytter Dahl