Why People Listen to Books? Fast-Growing Audio Book Market
Key Takeaways
The audiobook market is one of the fastest growing industries
Total audiobook sales for 2021 were $1.6 billion in the US alone
Global audiobook marketcap is estimated to be over $4.22 billion
New technologies such as IoT and AI are bolstering audiobook sales
The recent rise in popularity of audiobooks
The marketplaces for podcasts and audiobooks are expanding far more quickly than the broader media and entertainment industry. What makes hearing so unique? Will you pick up a pair of headphones the next time you curl up with a nice book rather than an eReader? Publishers of audiobooks are hoping for this, and the market's predicted expansion supports their hopes. According to the Audio Publishers Association’s (APA), in 2021, audiobook sales reached $1.6 billion in the US, a 25% rise and the tenth consecutive year of double-digit growth Also around 74,000 audiobooks were sold in 2021, which is an increase of 6% from the previous year. By percentage of sales, mystery/thriller/suspense, romance, and fiction were the next most popular genres, followed by science fiction and fantasy. Children's books and young adults showed rises as well, although romance had the greatest boost overall, with a 75% increase in sales. The APA conducted another survey that looked at the audience for audiobooks and discovered: 41% of listeners use at least one subscription service for audiobooks. The percentage of parents who say their kids listen to audiobooks has increased from 35% in 2020 to 61%. 45% of Americans aged 18 said they have ever listened to an audiobook. Professional narrators continue to be preferred by listeners over writers. The message is clear: Audiobooks are moving beyond their "niche" status to become significant marketplaces in their own right.
Audiobook market interesting facts
The size of the worldwide audiobook market was estimated to be 4.22 billion USD in 2021, and it is anticipated to increase at annual growth rate of 26.4% from 2022 to 2030.
Audiobooks are becoming more popular because of the ability to multitask and listen while on the go
The rise of home recording studios has made it possible for narrators to produce audiobooks faster and more affordably.
Both audiobook publishers and consumers benefit from the integration of cutting-edge technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
With the aid of common IoT tech, amateur authors, narrators, and publishers can produce audiobooks of good quality and launch a career in the audiobook creation industry. Important market players are implementing artificial intelligence (AI) to provide their users with personalized results based on their listening history. In the next eight years, the market is anticipated to be driven by further AI capabilities, such as automated narrations of recorded materials to enhance text-to-speech technologies and offering file summaries with important takeaways.
Younger age groups are an expanding user base are becoming more and more used to audiobooks. A wider pool of prospective buyers is anticipated as a result of the younger generation's rising preference for audiobooks, who are also likely to support and inspire their relatives and peers. Additionally, different age groups are expected to have diverse genre preferences for audiobooks, creating a variety of opportunities for the industry.
Due to worldwide lockdowns implemented by governments to stop the spread of the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic had a favorable influence on market growth. People were seeking for new ways to pass the time at home, which led to an increase in the market for audiobooks.
Narration and production quality plays a huge part in an audiobooks success. The pronunciation, tone and clarity of the narrator are the most crucial factors affecting sales. While strong narration boosts demand for recordings, a poor narrator with poor characterisation, inappropriate articulation, and uncontrolled breath and pitch can make the listener lose interest. Poor mastering and a variety of audio errors such as hisses and whines play a crucial role in driving sales as these problems can be irritating to consumers.
Despite being one of the quickest growing sectors, the audiobook industry is still hyper-competitive, therefore it's critical that your product stands out from the crowd. At Medusa Japan, we provide localization and transcreation as well as quality Japanese voice acting.
From a technical standpoint we offer audiobook mastering using professional analog gear utilizling audio processing techniques such as EQ, compression, limiting, normalization and other enhancements to achieve the highest production quality possible.
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