Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in book industry these days. U.S. and Canada sales jumped 21% in 2015 from the previous year, according to the Audio Publishers Association. US audiobooks market recorded double-digit growth in 2021,  showing 25% market grew compared to 2020 as reported by Publishing Perspectives.

Audiobook revenue in 2021 totaled US$1.6 billion, and approximately 74,000 audiobook titles were published that year, 6% higher in 2020 despite the global pandemic. Audiobooks are projected to be a $19 billion dollar industry by 2027. The sales survey includes data from publishers including Audible, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Penguin Random House. As stated in Publishing Perspectives, science fiction and fantasy surpass mystery, thrillers, and suspense as the most popular genre.

 

Why are audiobooks so popular?

Publishers expanding their contributions and enlisting best narrators. The audiobook format fits neatly in changing technology and behavior. Smartphones and multitasking have stoked an explosion in audiobooks. This has conditioned multitasking person to seek out constant entertainment whether walking, cleaning, driving, or sitting in a doctor’s office.

Technology and experimentation are shaking up the audiobook sector. The surprising innovative ways audiobooks made beat music, movie, and publishing industries. From 3D sound to nature recordings, audiobooks are a form which is constantly pushing boundaries. Audiobooks has a wide range of features, best innovations, and creativity.

  1. Audiobook features creativity from newly composed music to special recordings of the natural world.
  2. Audiobook’s recent productions have combined innovative sound design, added with incredible 3D or spatial sound.
  3. Audiobook does not compete with reader’s time the way a print book or eBook does. People listen to audiobooks while multitasking which they can make the most of their limited time.
  4. Audio storytelling is more creative and accessible than ever where audio media is easier to download from creative publishing industries.
  5. Besides entertainment, audiobooks are good for the brain as they play a major role in improving comprehension, imagination, listening and reading abilities, and emotional development.
  6. Audiobooks has creative arts, a process approach for teachers and children for the development of creative thinking.
  7. Audiobooks has an impressive array of celebrity narrators, voice actors that can really help listeners immerse themselves into a story. Listening to an emotionally driven storyteller engages emotional circuits in the brain and can heighten the intensity and imagery of the episodes, leading to a deeper processing of the narrative and experienced greater enjoyment of the material than reading a book.
  8. Audiobooks sold through online retailers. It also has an initiative and supports book publishers in recording to reach new global markets and capitalize on this growing industry.
  9. Audiobooks has illustrations of famous authors.
  10. Audiobooks heard anytime, anywhere, and across multiple devices.
  11. Creative content publishes downloadable audiobooks, both fiction and non-fiction. 
  12. Audiobooks have traditionally used with learning-disabled students, second-language learners, and struggling readers or nonreaders.

 

For authors who may have limited budgets, they easily produce and distribute their own audiobooks without a studio or recording equipment and using realistic text-to-voice technology fast—capturing all the elements of the human voice. Not only is the technology sounding more natural than ever, but it is also becoming more accessible. Hence, hire voice actors to create e-learning voice over or leveraging text-to-speech (TTS) technology.

There are more surprising recordings from publishers for you to download and enjoy, more diverse and exciting than ever.