Which is where Audible Plus comes in, and why publishers should be, if not worried (although some will be petrified), at least aware and preparing for the inevitable.Īt which point let me end this post by re-running a TNPS op-ed from September when Amazon rolled out Audible Plus in Australia, and which becomes all the more cogent in light of the latest move by Audible in India:Īmazon-owned Audible’s unlimited subscription now in five markets. Like other players in India, Audible understands the low unit revenue per month can be more than made up for by volume, in a country of 755 million internet-users (and still at just 54% internet penetration).Īudible also understands that the best way to consumers’ hearts is the unlimited subscription model – and that the same argument applies for any and every country in the world.
Most of the 200,000 titles on offer are in English and only one Indian language – Hindi – is catered for (by contrast Storytel offers more than ten local languages). India is leading the growth and engagement metrics for audiobooks, with paying members averaging engagement of 2.5 hours every day.Ĭharging just R199 pr month ($2.65) Audible competes with Storytel, Apple, Google and domestic audiobook players, but while it offers the largest catalogue its language range is limited. Shailesh Sawlani, Audible India Country Manager, said, In India the Audible Plus option allows unlimited access to 15,000 English and Hindi titles including all Audible Originals.
The UK followed a year later with an Audible Plus option, and then in quick succession Audible Australia, and now Audible India have unlimited subscription options. Then came the Spain launch, again with a full unlimited subscription all-you-can-eat-fixed-price model and, separately, the launch of Audible Plus in the US, offering unlimited consumption of selected content. When Amazon launched its audiobook arm Audible in Italy back in 2016 it was the first unlimited subscription venture for Audible, pre-empting Storytel’s entry into the Italian market, and for many observers it was regarded as a one-off, never to be repeated. The concern for publishers should be that at some point Amazon will simply shift all its markets to the unlimited subscription model, because at the end of the day Amazon makes its money by pleasing the consumer, not the supplier.
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