Audiobooks became popular worldwide for their convenience and the aural way of text engagement. These books build a reader’s listening skills and boost their focus for an extraordinary experience. Due to its incredible benefits, audiobooks have been expanding across various countries. This includes the UK too, where the country apparently reported record sales last year at Audible.
Audible, the American online audiobook/podcast service and a subsidiary of Amazon, has reported a 6% upsurge in its turnover (to £ 226 million) thanks to the rising interest in audiobooks. As of May 2023, audible.co.uk has 6.1 million visits and 4.35 pages per visit. Despite the turnover, the company struggled with profits, which reduced to £ 14.8 million from £ 19.4 million (past year) as per the accounts filed at Companies House.
Audiobooks have certainly changed how readers access books. It has encouraged people to go beyond textual play and learn things innovatively. While audiobooks have been in the industry for years, they gained more recognition when the world suffered from the pandemic.
The pandemic also marked more approval for platforms like Audible, which has 200,000 books for both downloading and purchasing online. Audible give readers access to several genres like fiction, literature, romance, mystery, kids, etc. The platform features some of the best-sellers like Atomic Habits (by James Clear), Rich Dad Poor Dad (by Robert T. Kiyosaki), and The Psychology of Money (Morgan House).
As for the audiobook revenue in the UK, sales from audiobook downloads rose to 164 million British pounds in 2022. This was eight per cent more than the previous year. Also, the 2022 sales have witnessed three times the values recorded back in 2017. Among the listeners in the UK, the young generation seems to be more interested in audiobooks. That’s why, as per a survey, about 40% of respondents in age 12 to 15 accepted that they downloaded audiobooks once a week. Similarly, about 46% of readers in their mid 20’s and early 30’s said that they read/downloaded audiobooks once a week too.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.