Audible has just unveiled a brand new gifting feature that will allow you to share a single audiobook with your friends. Each recipient gets his or her first title through for free, and Audible will pay authors, actors and other rights holders the equivalent value of the title.
If you are an Audible member and have purchased an audio title you can instantly send this book to your friends via e-mail, text, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, using their iOS, Android and Windows 10 devices. If your friend is not a member of Audible, all they need to do is sign up for free account and they can listen to the one you shared with them.
Audible’s many millions of habitués know how our audio service can enhance the quality and character of daily life – whether driving, exercising, or working around the house. Audible is growing at historic rates as powerful words matched by powerful performances redefine reading and listening,” said Audible founder and CEO Donald Katz. “Audible customers also understand that they own each title they buy as members or a la carte purchasers, and they can carry their Audible libraries around forever. Now, for the first time, our listeners can send complete titles to anyone in the US and the cost is on us.”
Katz added, “We are proud to celebrate our current listeners and listeners to come by offering sharing in the form of a gift – a gift of considerable value in terms of dollars and, we hope, a gift that introduces others to the unbridled and often transformative power of the spoken word.”
Whether an Audible title owner is a book club member who wants to share an audiobook with an entire group, a teacher recommending a title to a class, or an enthusiastic listener giving to a friend, this new feature is designed to be easy to use. Simply tap on the ‘Send this Book’ icon in your My Library, and the audiobook you give will be sent free to as many people as a customer wants to include (and it remains in your library). If it is a recipient’s first time accepting an audiobook via this feature the recipient does not need to sign up for a free trial or use a credit card to redeem the title.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
