The Art of Reading by Ear

Why Growing Numbers of Readers are Embracing the Audiobook Experience

Are work and lifestyle demands impinging upon your ability to read more books? From the feedback I’ve been getting from the “Great Books, Great Minds” community, you are not alone.

One alternative to traditional hardcover/paperback books that many are turning to as a result are audiobooks. Fans of this reading approach extoll the benefits of being able to listen to a great book on the move, whether it's on a commute to work while tidying up the house, or while jogging. 

Some book industry experts point to the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for the resurgence of audiobooks. The government imposed lockdowns and restrictions that we experienced spurred us to begin exploring new and entertaining ways to remain engaged while nestled at home. 

The other day I was reflecting on my first experiences with audiobooks back in the 80s and 90s when books on cassettes were all the rage. In 1993 to be exact, I credit them for keeping my mind active and awake during my long treks as a training facilitator for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, a year where I logged nearly 20,000 auto miles.

For those of you that are old school like me, by now you are probably busting a gut laughing at the thought of those books on tape of yesteryear. And if you are nostalgic, you’ll be happy to hear that the Books on Tape movement is being kept alive and kicking by a division of Random House, Inc. which publishes and sells over 5,000 unabridged audiobooks mostly on audio cassette. They also have 500 titles available on CD and 400 titles available on MP3-CD. 

Over the years the audiobook market has morphed into new listening modes thanks to the internet’s emergence opening abundant opportunities for the market. Today, audiobooks of the digital cloud variety are witnessing a massive spike in popularity as an alternative way to take in a great book. 

According to a Market Analysis Report by Grand View Research, the global audiobook market size was valued at USD 4,219.0 million in 2021. It is now expected to soar at a compound annual growth rate of 26.4% from 2022 to 2030. 

Much of this growth can be attributed to the flexible and versatile nature of audiobooks. This modality boosts the accessibility of books on mobile devices, irrespective of place and time, creating a much easier on-ramp for consumers seeking to experience a greater volume of reads. 

On the producer side, the proliferation of audio studios in homes or at office locales allows narrators to reduce the heavy lifting around the creation of audiobooks while also lowering production costs. Some amateur authors, narrators, and publishers in fact are making a career out of creating reasonable quality audiobooks amid these advancements.

Many book enthusiasts, however, will tell you that the quality of an audiobook is largely predicated on the narrator's voice and pronunciation. In other words, a lousy narrator can cause a listener to lose interest.

Ironically I found myself in a discussion yesterday with a friend of mine here in Denver, about this very point. I recommended a great read to him a few weeks ago that he’s wadding his way through an audiobook. While enjoying the book’s overall message he admits to being distracted by the thick, unwieldy accent of the narrator, adversely impacting his overall reading experience. 

David Rothman, an editor, author, and library advocate who I’ve featured in the past here on “Great Books, Great Minds” says that he’s very keen on audiobooks as knowledge and literacy-spreaders noting that….. “spoken books get people excited about reading in other kinds of ways. And yes, I do consider listening to audiobooks to be reading.”

He says that if nothing else, we should consider the benefits that audiobooks deliver for those who aren’t native English-language readers or are illiterate or almost so. 

“Audiobooks can be a great democratizer in other ways, too. Imagine the possibilities for people who are juggling several jobs at once and can listen to books when performing some routine tasks or commuting.”

One major trend he’s seeing in audio is the growing use of text to artificial speech, whether from publishers and authors or on the reader’s end. But in striking a cautionary cord, he notes: 

“Today’s text to speech at its best is awesomely natural. But nothing beats an accomplished human narrator who can turn reading of a novel or great nonfiction into a brilliant performance highlighting differences between characters.”

Rothman highlights his own experiences as the author of a new book entitled Drone Child as an example of this: 

“I feel especially that way after working on the Drone Child audiobook with Dion Graham, a superstar of a narrator who made my characters come alive in new ways. He’s like a Black Peter Seller. One performer, many different personalities and nuanced voices.” 

He adds that if Drone Child ever becomes a movie, he could see Dion playing his main villain and child-soldier hero.

“Of course, some audiobooks these days include different people playing different characters. But just one mesmerizing narrator can still enthrall.” 

As for the near-term audio trends, Rothman expects the number of audiobook readers to keep growing. 

“Spotify just bought Findaway, a major distributor of audiobooks, and I’m hoping they’ll get it right—no guarantees. Meanwhile, thanks to artificial intelligence, text-to-speech should get even better. But again—there is only one Dion Graham in real life and will be even if a synthetic, AI-enhanced version of his amazing voice comes out in time.”

As the world’s biggest music streaming service, it is particularly noteworthy how Spotify is taking aim at Amazon Audible’s dominance in audiobooks, which controls nearly half of the U.S. audiobook market according to Codex Group Research. In some verticals, Amazon’s footprint is even estimated to be as much as 90% of the digital audiobook market.

The good news according to Rothman is that audiobook options abound. 

“LibriVox is great for public domain classics. Libro.fm is an interesting choice for commercial audiobooks because of its support of local bookstores.”

In closing, let me throw in my personal favorite to add to David’s list, an app called Scribd. Launched in 2007, Scribd had quickly grown into one of the best digital library platforms in the world with more than 80 million readers. It is basically a hybrid of Audible and Kindle Unlimited on steroids, only less expensive. For this reason, Scribd is affectionately known as the "Netflix For Books.” 

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Are you an audiobook user? If so, please share your advice and experiences in the below comment section for the “Great Books, Great Minds” community.