The ePrice is not Right

The news this week that Sony want UK ebook pricing to come down demonstrates that the issue of ebook pricing has many vested interests. We can’t assume that these perspectives are shared and in many cases are in fact pulling in different directions.

What is clear is that there is no standard epricing approach. Most publishers choose to align the digital price to the recommended retail price (RRP) of the physical rendition, but even here there is inconsistency. Do they choose the hardback, the paperback or start with the hardback and then flip it to the paperback when it is released? Go they hold back its release and release it alongside the paperback? If the price remains aligned to the physical rendition does this mean that when a reprint is produced with a higher RRP the ebook price rises too? Audiobook pricing has long stood by itself and has not been aligned to the physical rendition, so why do it to ebooks? The big question remains - How does the consumer feel about different pricing for what is exactly the same product?

Some believe that a staggered release similar to that used in the film industry is the best way of avoiding the cannibalising of hardback sales. This may work for a few but the content isn’t any different and the experience is much the same and deliberately denying consumers access is an open invitation to the digital pirates who plague the film industry and feed off this staggered release policy.

Some argue that the publishers have given away control of price but others would suggest they never really had it and their only action was to raise prices to offset discounts but maintain margin.

We must also remember that audio books and ebooks incur tax. In the UK physical books are tax free or zero rate whilst digital is at full rate 15%. In other countries the rates differ between the physical digital renditions and across Europe there is little standardisation on VAT. An ebook to a Dublin reseller will not cost the same as it does to a London reseller, but they may well sell for the same price. As all books are sold VAT inclusive, the consumer is often unaware of the tax incurred and only sees the price paid. However, unlike other products, here we have an identical product where VAT is charged differently based on whether its digital or physical. We all see the stupidity, but we must not assume that cash strapped governments will level them at the lower rate.

Then we have the retailers who want to create a price incentive and some big players are prepared to discount at a loss. We have ebook device manufacturers who like Sony only understand volume sales and want cheap books so they can sell more devices.
Finally, we must also not forget the author who is struggling to establish a living based on royalties that can appear to be a moving target. If the ebook becomes a cheap rendition how will the author be rewarded? Where do they want the price to be set?

We already have royalty contractual issues on ebooks. Should these remain as a fixed percentage of RRP, should it be a % of net receipts, should digital be fee based, should they be treated as special sales?

Its understandable to reduce the price of ebooks, to sell them at a fixed price point, even give them away as promotional leaders but the author must be included in the mix. Today we read that Smashwords, a self publishing operator is to supply B&N with their titles. They publish some 2,600 titles per year and give the author 82% of the sale. Is it now time for more authors to wake up and smell the self-publishing coffee?

What we believe is important is that each perspective is understood, but that the industry is not seduced by new entrants with different drivers and works to bring some sanity to this new market opportunity that will enable it to grow whilst rewarding everyone who adds value.

iPhone News

We note that over one million iPhone 3GS units were sold in just its first three days and take a quick look at iPhone world..

Three Book App Moments
OUP has made 11 of its reference dictionaries available for the first time on the iPhone and iTouch Apps at £8.99 each. They are searchable, have unlimited bookmarking and you can email the definitions to friends.

The available titles are: Oxford Dictionary of Accounting; Oxford Dictionary of Biology; Oxford Dictionary of Business & Management; Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry; Oxford Dictionary of Computing; Oxford Dictionary of Finance & Banking; Oxford Dictionary of Law; Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary; Oxford Dictionary of Music; Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy; Oxford Dictionary of Politics.

In another launch IDW Publishing is a new line of digital comic apps allowing fans to download comics directly to their iPhone or iPod Touch. The 12 new movie-related digital comics are a must-read for all TRANSFORMERS fan, setting the stage for the upcoming TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN film. The iPhone comics are supported with a custom landing page on the iTunes store and feature panel-by-panel viewing, easy to use controls, such as “swipe” navigation, and a convenient table of contents function. These come on the back the 40 digital comics, such as Star Trek: Countdown that IDW have already created.

After reference and comics we also note that The Audiobooks app has captured the number one Apple's free App spot for the books category. The app introduces a catalogue of 1,800 free audiobooks to iPhone and iPod Touch users and potentially offering a audiobook long overdue moment.

The catalogue of nearly 10,000 hours of listening is to be applauded as it uses recordings from the LibriVox Project, which is a collection of volunteer-read audio books from the public domain.

Market News
Meanwhile anyone who doubted that Apple had created the winner of the smartphone pack need to look no further than the news that a survey, by market research firm Crowd Science, found that 40% smartphone users who don't have an iPhone want one next time round and 80% upgrade to the next Apple device next time. Interestingly only 14% of non-BlackBerry users would switch to a BlackBerry device for their next mobile phone. According to Gartner Apple has doubled its share of the worldwide smartphone market in the first quarter to 10.8% from 5.3% a year ago. Another interest note from the Crowd Science study was that 71% of smartphone subscribers use them for both personal and business purposes, with only 3% using them just for business.

The Downside
One downside appears the news that all the exclusive carriers appear to wantto charge for tethering, or being able to use the iPhone as a mobile modem for the laptop. Some say its hard or almost impossible for them to detect and others point users to simple way to break it via benm.at. Tethering is an obvious benefit to mobile people and was made available as part of OS 3.0 so it seems harsh that the carriers are using to raise revenues and create a barrier to buy when it would be a major plus if it was free within the unlimited Internet access plans.

The other downside appears to be the news that the Interim Federal Communications Commission chair Michael Copps is calling for an examination of exclusive handset deals to establish if they are restricting innovation. US Senator Kerry wrote to the FCC suggesting that such deals risk giving too much power to dominant networks, with particular reference to the iPhone and AT&T.

Send In The Clowns

There are many instances where text in whatever form is read or transformed into audio; Parents reading to children, teachers reading to students, reading groups sharing feelings, Jaws enabling the visually impaired to enjoy books. The recent announcement that the K2 has a feature to convert text to speech has certainly ignited a debate on the interpretation of audio. So when is book an audio book? When is alright to convert text to speech and when is it a breach of copyright?

We have previously written about the complexities of generating synthesised voice from text and although it is possible to achieve high quality it isn’t there today and there is a distinct difference between an actor or author rendition and a synthesised one.

The Author’s Guild has quite audibly suggested that Amazon’s use of text to speech may be a copyright violation. Are they right or wrong, or as many would scream, who cares? The objective of publishing is to publish, disseminate, spread the word and ensure due reference and royalty ensues.

Some would suggest that the Author’s Guild is afraid this new feature would cut into sales of audio books. Others would point out that Amazon owns the largest audio book seller Audible and so would be potentially cannibalising their own sales. Others again would argue that the feature would offer an audio option to many books that today don’t have one and frankly never will under the current audio production model. So logic would suggest that the feature and any subsequent refinement of it may well generate new audio revenues that are not currently enjoyed by many of the Guild’s membership.

In fact, it seems the stand of the Author’s Guild only serves to protect audio book publishers and increase litigation and lawyer’s revenues. Probably these may be the same lawyers who will profit from the Guild’s last stand, or as some would argue, capitulation to the other Gorillas – Google and the Book Search settlement. Well when you have taken one battle and think you have won perhaps the smell of the chase outstrips logic.

We hope Amazon.com will stand by their decision to include Text-to-speech features in the new Kindle.

Text to Speech Audiobooks

The Wall Street Journal reports that some publishers and agents expressed concern over a new, experimental feature on the K2 that enables it to read text aloud with a computer-generated voice. This feature is widely available on all PCs today so what is the fuss about?

Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild is reported saying, "They don't have the right to read a book out loud, that's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law." An Amazon spokesman in response noted the text-reading feature depends on text-to-speech technology, and that listeners won't confuse it with the audiobook experience.

So is this a storm in a teacup or a genuine threat to audiobooks as we know them today?

Firstly, we must separate the needs of the visually impaired and those just wishing for an audiobook. The former needs are slightly different and a text to speech offer may meet their needs and must be supported in that effort. Ultimately both require a higher sensitivity of audio specification than that auto generated.

We have looked hard at generating audio from text using leading text to voice synthesis technologies. We found that there were three distinct phases to achieve high quality rendering. First you need to create a stylesheet that is applicable to the text being rendered. This identifies pitch and variation and also creates time pauses and other effects when encountering certain punctuation. This may well generate a number of templates, but will be different for different genres of books. Secondly, there is the voice synthesis engine and dictionary which differ widely and are ever learning and growing, but bring that human aspect to rendering and can introduce dialect as well gender. Finally, there is the need to tidy up any mistakes, be they dictionary or punctuation. We did a fiction and STM book and achieved a full rendering in no time whatsoever. The results were very good and with effort could be excellent. We found that the production process needed expert input and although they improved productivity and reduced costs they didn't match the quality of actors and today’s audio books.

So are instant text to voice renditions going to threaten audiobooks? We don’t think so today but they will do over time. Can text to speech synthesis change audio book production? Yes potentially its almost there today. Can publishers take advantage of text to speech? Certainly, if not just to comply with disability demands. Will text to speech threaten territorial rights and offer instant translations? Well try using Google translator, it’s an excellent tool but like most translators it can make hard work of grammar and words that don’t easily translate, but it’s here today and free.

Some may think that the K2 text to speech has another objective and maybe that lies in the educational market.

Audiobooks Just Got a Look Clearer?

It heartening to read in PW, that the major US trade houses are very close to fully embracing DRM free audio books. The reality is that virtually every audio CD is DRM free today and ripping a CD to create a file of choice is a lot easier than scanning a book. However DRM free talk is not new and the same publishers have stated this intent several times but have made relatively little progress in their delivery.

We do take our hats off to Random House who saw the light some time ago and have stuck to their guns. Other such as Penguin pulled out of the original DRM free trails and is not quoted in the PW article.

We must also point out that the number one audio provider Audible still sticks rigidly to their DRM technology. After all its what gave them their market position, which in turn enticed Amazon to buy them. Many would say that Audible’s DRM is the only effective DRM for these files today, but alas it is proprietary. Some would say that audible didn't really know whether it wanted to be a technology company, a publisher, a book club, or all the above. Amazon on the other hand has championed DRM free music but has stayed quiet on audiobooks. Amazon also has now acquired a audio publisher. Perhaps this is called ‘Every which way but loose.’

Some 30 months ago when we wrote the ‘Brave New World’ report, we believed that audio books would be at the front of the digital publishing movement. The logic was that the user experience was the same, the MP3 players were ubiquitous and all that needed to change was the delivery, which would make it similar to music. What got in the way were rights contracts, DRM, inertia, lack of price points, general pricing and Audible’s market dominance. We have been increasingly disappointed that talk has not been followed up by action and a clear opportunity has languished untapped.

Just like with ebooks publishers need to take bold steps, 50 titles here and 100 there isn’t going to change a thing. We are again talking about a change in a vacuum of real content. All new titles DRM free and a clear program to address the back list will change that. So who is going to take the bold steps? Who is going to sort out the pricing issues? Will files be watermarked?

The other interesting question is again focused at the public library versus retail. How will audio books free to rent and download from a library compete with purchased download from a retailer?

Finally, how will these titles get to market? Audio books don’t need a single point of distribution be that Overdrive or Audible they need to be available for every retailer to sell, every library to lend, every consumer to enjoy. This means that not only doe the DRM have to go but the channel ahs to be effectively opened up to those who want the freedom to sell every title available and not be tethered to those who restricted the old world.

3 Mobile to Offer Books on the Go?

We were pleased to read from several sources that Mobile operator 3 is to offer its customers the chance to download over 1,000 ebooks and audio books direct to their mobile phone. The operator has a track record in trying new things and was offering Skype inclusive deals over two years ago.

The Books on the Go service, is reportedly already available to Vodafone customers and offers books for download from top publishers, including Penguin and HarperCollins and is provided by former SAS soldier and writer Andy McNab’s GoSpoken.com. Authors available for download include Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, and Celcilia Ahern.

3 UK’s entire customer-base will be able to preview free extracts before either downloading the whole book for £5-10, or choosing to download the book in several parts at a cost of £1 to £3 each. Downloading an entire audio book is reported to only take "minutes" while eBooks will "be available to read in seconds".

The problem was that even as a 3 customer we couldn't the books or any refernce to them on any 3 site. If anyone at 3 knows about it please let’s us know as we would like to try it out, but can’t be bothered to keep searching for it.

Review of our 2008 Predictions - 6. Audio

At the end of 2007 we made 10 predictions for 2008. Many predictions made have now been conveniently forgotten but we stand by our thinking at the time and believe it appropriate we openly review these individually and see what we think happened and assess them appropriately. Today we review the audiobook market.

6. Audio – the death of DRM is inevitable and closely linked to music and in its wake what will happen to Audible and its monopoly? Consumers will vote with their clicks and the book club model is unlikely to succeed. The use of Watermarking technology will grow.

What a weird sector this is? It should be the most advanced digital sector and be creating significant growth for all. After all you need to do is download the file the rest is exactly the same!

Audible continue to dominate and some would say restrict the market to their exclusive DRM and business model. Publishers say they will go MP3 but then have a problem delivering it. In some cases it’s like the old typesetters’ print files, they failed to pick them up. In some cases it’s down to rights contracts and restrictions on non DRM protection.

Whatever the answer the fact is that the market is failing to grasp the full potential and what is being grasped is in Amazon / Audible.

Music discovered that MP3 may not be the best technology and may be ‘open’ but it has all the players, the audience and its often better to get a small piece of a huge pie than a big piece of a small one.


We feel Audio stood still and stalled yet again, 2 of 10.

Rabbit, Rabbit , Rabbit

Rabbits are cute little fluffy animals that we all love. They often bury away underground and unseen and then you see fields of them. So it was interesting to read about rabbit that had obviously been hidden from ourselves, the Nabaztag Rabbit, which was covered in an article this week in the Bookseller bulletin.

Violet, are the French creators of the WiFi Nabaztag techie Rabbit first launched it in 2005. You simply plug it into the mains, connect it to your wireless hub and give it a name and its alive. Through its internet connection it can, relay alerts, news, podcasts, radio, messages and even read SMS and email. It takes orders and can give them too! Friends can even email the rabbit! Its ears rotate and ‘practice Tai chi and it speaks 5 and can read 16 different languages. It retails from many outlets at around £80 and appears to be a very clever little bunny!

The Nabaztag can also identify and react to tags via its "Ztamp" system. This enables Ladybird to bury a Ztamp in the jacket of a childrens book which when placed in fron t of the Rabbit will enable him to retrieve the story from the Violet server and reads it out loud. Users can even navigate through the chapters of the story by moving the Rabbit's ears! From September, the Rabbit will be bundled with three traditional Ladybird Tales for £115. Alternatively the stories can be bought separately online.

Now if it’s a toss up between this little ‘toy’ and the kindle we know what we want for Christmas and we can get it from Amazon with different coloured ears!

Rabbits are fun and ironically this week my wife gave me a box of postcards ‘Bunnies in a Box’ by Andy Riley which she had reviewed for her business. This was dark humour at its best with a collection of hilarious and outrageous cartoons of images of fluffy bunnies finding new ways to commit suicide. But somehow we don’t see the Nabaztag Rabbit committing suicide any of the ways depicted.

Audible launches IndieFirst

Yesterday’e Bookseller Bulletin covered a interesting piece on Audible’s launch of a new imprint service ‘IndieFirst’ which aims to publish the work from independent publishers one month ahead of their print release.

This raises several opportunities as it becomes the first release of the title and could be used to promote the print release with more than just a ‘Search Inside’ as well as sell the audiobook. It clearly moves Audible into the publishing stage and would due to their current proprietary format and DRM give them exclusive material to sell and promote on iTunes and Audible.com. The programme will also "introduce book lovers to new and emerging writers".

The venture is in collaboration with the Centre for Independent Publishing to publish work from independent publishers and the first title is Joe Meno's Demons in the Spring, an unabridged 8 hour collection of 20 stories narrated by Victor Bevine, which will be published in print by New York-based Akashic Books in September. Three other titles are listed for realese.

This is a very logical and interesting move by the Amazon owned company and should both further strengthen their hold on the audio market and ties with independent publishers, provide fresh content and potentially introduce new marketing material to promote the physical and audio books.

Audiobook DRM RIP

The story of the month must go to the news that Random House are to allow audiobook downloads to be sold online as downloads free of DRM. We have written about their watermark experiment with eMusic and the mystery as to why Penguin pulled out.
This at last brings some sanity to the market and we hope will not only kick-start the long overdue audio push but importantly allow all online players and the channel to compete. It is great news for the industry and hopefully just as with music the gates will open and many will follow. It is certainly a great day for retailers and consumers.

It puts Audible in funny position as it effectively sounds a death knell for their unique selling point their proprietary DRM. The question of whether Amazon would have bought them today is now debatable, as is the price they would have to paid toady. The other interesting position to watch is Amazon DRM free versus Amazon Audible.

But the day must go to Random, hats off and sanity returns. The next issue is that of pricing, but that’s for another day.

Beware of Gorillas

When faced with a Gorilla you have a limited number of choices. You can turnaround and walk away and pretend he wasn’t there. You can smile and concede the next move is his and that he now owns the garden. You can take him on ‘David and Goliath’ style. You can call your friends, the local zoo and hope that they turn up in time.

Audiobook publishers have now entered the garden and are faced with a new Gorilla Amazon / Audible sitting smiling at them. They understand Amazom and its audiobook position and they understand Audible and it position but what nobody but Amazon understands, is what their position is going forward. So just like all Gorillas they are unpredictable.

Audible has established an audio dominance based on largely on their DRM technology and ability to deploy it onto multiple platforms where there is no competitive offer and also their exclusive deal with iTunes, which is licensed till 2010. Amazon has its audio publishing publisher Brilliance, a subsidiary CustomFlix which supports both standard CD and mp3-CD audiobook formats in its "disc on demand" service which produces audio titles on CD on demand.

We have questioned what role Amazon will play; publisher, aggregator, retailer, technologist or all?

We have asked how the relationship will evolve when Amazon wants to go DRM free and MP3 on music and Audible, proprietary DRM phobic on audiobooks. Where does it leave iTunes with Amazon sitting now in their back garden?

Publisher’s have long stressed the need for greater competition but have understandably supported the DRM position and thereby restricted the market. Retailers have had little download options to date and even the few that have managed to do a ‘white label’ deal with Audible, now could find the tables shifting. Direct Sales will always exist but consumers want aggregation and choice.

The irony in much of this is the fact that it is so simple to take an audio CD and rip it to create a digital file. Its not rocket science and anyone can do it! So why the download DRM fixation and why do we assume that audiobooks will be treated any different to music, which has clearly woken up to the DRM myths. It would be very interesting to understand why Penguin withdrew for the recent MP3 audio trials whilst Random House didn’t. It will be also interesting to understand the potential implications of audio watermarking technology as a more passive and acceptable alternative to DRM.

The audiobook CD has still got a life, albeit a short one and one. Perhaps its time to think differently about the content and package and not merely replicate the CD as a download. After all, the format is identical.

It is essential the current retail channel is also able to participate in the audiobook download offer. Cutting out this channel will be far more dangerous than with ebooks where the physical book will always have a role and ebooks may only be a small slice of the market. If the audiobook market flips to downloads and an on demand model there will only be one Gorrilla sitting in the back garden and guess who will be dictating the terms?

Amazon Acquire the Audio-book Market?

Today we read about the biggest digital news to hit the news for many months. Surprisingly it wasn’t top to the industry news but its implications will be huge for many. Amazon has bought Audible for $300 million. We must also remember that Amazon last May acquired Michigan audiobook publisher Brilliance who had a catalogue of over 1,000 audio titles and releases 20 to 40 new titles a month.

Amazon's subsidiary CustomFlix supports both standard CD and mp3-CD audiobook formats in its "disc on demand" service which produces audio titles on CD on demand. The question it raises is when this model will flip into audio downloads. We questioned last May whether Brilliance bought for it content and list? Does this now make Amazon a publisher and fill in the last space in the value chain?

We also questioned whether Amazon wanted to continue referring audio customers to Audible.

The fact that Audible invested so heavily in developing its DRM technology and getting it accepted in so many platforms and that it has an exclusive agreement with iTunes until 2010 must have been a ‘no brainer’ for Amazon. The fact is digital audiobooks are Audible. Some may say that they have restricted the growth of audio, that there business model based on the old book club approach is wrong, but come what may, they are the digital audio download market today.

So were does this marriage leave the market? It certainly now belongs to Amazon. The relationship with iTunes is very interesting for Mr Jobs and Mr Bezos. What will happen next – the Kindle be an audio player too? Where does Amazon’s stand on MP3 and DRM music sit alongside Audible’s propietory DRM strength?

Only time will tell but Amazon are unlikely to walk away from the DRM strength of Audible and their marketing and buying audiobook clout has just increased ten fold.

The audio industry has to either fold under the Amazon umbrella, or adopt a different approach to DRM. It could be bold and follow music, it could adopt watermarks or it could face the realities of the marriage and hand over audiobooks to Amazon to run on their terms. We hope bold is the answer.

DRM is not the People's Choice

U.K. music download store, 7 Digital, reports that its DRM-free music downloads are outselling other formats by a factor of four to one. Given the choice, consumers prefer MP3 DRM-free formats. They claim that 78% of downloads are MP3 with no DRM. They also announced that over 60% of its 3 million strong catalogue is now available DRM free in MP3 format and is expecting this to increase to 100% in the next 18 months. 7 Digital do sell audiobooks and although the range is small they do have MP3 audiobooks.

The shift towards MP3 would appear to show the consumers prefer non proprietary formats that offer true interoperability. The shift towards DRM free clearly demonstrates the direction consumers which to follow and the increased size of the DRM free catalogue is given them the necessary choice.

Audiobooks may continue with a DRM proprietary format from Audible but if music continues to move it is hard to see this as sustainable. The question is whether Audible will move or entrench. What is becoming clear is that DRM as we know it today is transient technology and may well be replaced by an open ‘honesty box’ approach potentially supported by less restrictive technology such as watermarking.

The Cat will not be put back in this Bag

Audio books appear to be in a digital tug of war.

On one side stands the music industry who are rapidly changing business models, are digital and desperately trying to make money with artists, consumers and the market shifting the ground from under their feet. The Radiohead ‘honesty box’ and recent giveaway CDs are now competing with DRM free music. It’s inevitable that watermarking will prevail over DRM and that its days are clearly numbered. On the other side sits an uneasy book industry claiming, with some justification, that ‘books are different’ but at the same time watching the audiobook increasingly being digitally aligned with music.

It is not surprising to read today that Penguin has withdrawn its 150 titles from its audiobook experiment with eMusic’s unprotected MP3 file initiative. Publisher Dick Heffernan is reported in the NYT, "At this moment we're not going to have our titles on eMusic or with anyone else who sells non-DRM until the landscape shakes out and we feel very comfortable and confident that our titles will not be pirated." Interestingly he added that, "We wanted to take a chance and see how it would work out, and our very senior management at this moment decided that we didn’t want to do that."

On the other hand eMusic stated that they are achieving 500 audiobook sales a day under the DRM free initiative which is double the projections. Random House Audio have reported that they are monitoring their participation but have found no piracy to date and that sales were "really encouraging."

So what will prevail? Naxos and Silksoundbooks are available DRM free today for download in the UK. Naxos have signed up to Gardners Digital Services so will have an additional channel to market. Silksoundbooks have placed a price point of £7.99 a download which certainly raise further questions.

Some may sit on the sidelines and wait, but the market and the channels are starting to appear and with it those cracks in the audiobook world, that has so long been restrained by Audible and restrictive DRM.

Audiobooks Move Forward DRM Free

We said that it would happen but we didn’t expect it so soon but the nail in the DRM audio coffin is now firmly being hammered home. eMusic is to offer over a thousand MP3 audiobook titles from publishers such as Hachette, Penguin, Naxos and Random House. Random will watermark their audio files and monitor file-sharing services for abuses. Again something we have been predicting.

This is a significant step and follows similar moves by the music industry. At last we may well start to see the digital audio demand we predicted in the Brave New World report and the demised of the proprietary DRM monopoloy of Audiable. It also clears the way to move away from the book club model and importantly set a price point that the consumer can relate to.

Well done eMusic and watch out for many more announcements and deployment in this exciting audio download market, as the shackles that have inhibited so long fall away. We would predict that this is not going to be the solution store or buying model but it certainly will shake the tree!

Digital Erotica goes mainstream

Between the sheets there is some new bedtime listening. Virgin Books has launched an erotic audiobooks joint venture with Audible who will deliver downloadable titles under Virgin's Black Lace, Nexus, Cheek and Erotic Memoir imprints.

In technology, Erotica always leads and others follow. The questions are whether Audible’s model will appeal to erotic buyers and ordinary audio book buyers and also whether this can capture new download sales or merely replaces those in the old formats? Today there are 521 erotic titles available from Audible.com and 239 at Audible.co.uk, of which Virgin has just loaded 20. However, Virgin does have a huge list of titles, so it can convert a lot more and could be become a major contributor to this genre in Audible.

A visit to the US site is interesting. Listening to the samples may do it for some, but personally it didn’t work for me! ‘Between the Sheets’ took some two minutes before the steam started to rise and then it cut out. ‘Erotic Short Stories was certainly quick to the point, but the reader was so fast I wondered what the softly spoken lady was talking about! Like a schoolboy I then searched all over the UK site. I couldn’t find the Virgin titles but loads of ‘In Bed with Susie Bright’. In fact 115 titles are hers! She produces audiobooks like a blog, or a podcast, each about 26 minutes long for around £3.99. One can sample as many as you need for 5 mins for free! She sounds just like an American lady, just talking off the cuff and into the mike. The Susie Bright model is however interesting and shows how to viral market, blog and potentially make money. In fact she has her own website, blog, store, entry in wikipedia, generates over 400K hits on Google and produces a weekly podcast which is sold via Audible!

So what have we learnt? Certainly an insight into viral marketing and promotion but is it digital news or just I we suspect, more digital noise?

Classic Audio, Read by Class Acts at Great Prices

Silksoundbooks.com have launched a new digital download venture with 60 titles and expects to have 1,000 within three years.

There are several interesting aspects to this. Firstly it is being backed by top tier actors such as Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Richard E Grant, Jane Horrocks who may take shares in the venture in lieu of fees. This certainly gives them an edge and a vested interest in making happen. Secondly the focus is on unabridged English classics an obvious approach and one which aligns known names with known actors. Thirdly the price is a flat rate £7.95, a clear logical price point and one that will be attractive to many. Fourthly the files will be on MP3 and iTunes compatible formats, keeping it simple and aligned to where the players are. Fifthly they don’t need the overheads of the physical channel and have some graet names to advertise the wares to a wide audience.

This is a significant step and is equal to when the likes of Wordsworth classics first put out the £1 classic. This is common land and it will be interesting to see how the high price points currently given to audiobooks will survive this broadside. Well done!

Amazon Buys Brilliance

Amazon has acquired Michigan audiobook publisher Brilliance who have a catalogue of over 1,000 audio titles and releases 20 to 40 new titles a month.

Amazon's subsidiary CustomFlix will now support both standard CD and mp3-CD audiobook formats in its "disc on demand" service which produces audio titles on CD on demand. The question it raises is when this model will flip into audio downloads. Was Brilliance bought for it content and list? Does this now make Amazon a publisher and fill in the last space in the value chain?

Reality is that it is probably now time that Amazon wants to stop referring audio customer to Audible and the move is one more part of the jigsaw before Bezos takes on Steve Jobs’s iWorld.

Can you hear me, Mother?

We argued in “Brave New World” that the audio book would lead the digital revolution. The consumer experience was the same, MP3 technology was available and being used by all and the experience was complimentary and not substitution to reading. There are real obstacles; Audible’s proprietary DRM, their book club commercial model, their exclusive iTunes relationship, the lack of effective standardized DRM, etc. It is also clear, that market demand can’t be created in a vacuum and today there is certainly a vacuum of digital audio content.

So it was disheartening to hear news that, at the Association of Authors’ Agents recent AGM, there was disquiet raised at the perceived low levels of royalties being offered by publishers for digital downloads of audiobooks. The question should not be one of increasing individual percentages, but one of how we all maximize the opportunity and grow the pot for all. The adversarial stance on percentage points does nothing to getting more titles into the market, changing the stranglehold of some on the channel or sorting out the question of DRM.

Why does everyone want more out of the digital pie before it has even been established? The publisher is often seen as wanting to sell and distribute direct, cut others out and enjoy greater margin. The retailers wants to do it, but don’t have the infrastructure or Internet visibility to deliver. The author wants a greater slice before the pie is even mixed, let alone baked.

Why can’t everyone work together to establish the market based on today’s model and channels?

After all, it is better to have the same share of a bigger pie than a bigger share of a smaller one. Volume is the key and in a market segment where prices are perceived as high, volume must be the way forward.