In Search of Audiobook Happiness

Subscription or à la carte? All-you-can-eat or time-limited? Token or hour-based? When it comes to audiobooks, established business models are still lacking, and some, particularly all-you-can-eat subscriptions, remain quite controversial. The landscape is so unpredictable that new platforms have recently promised to disrupt the audiobook subscription environment by offering books à la carte, which was exactly the model that subscriptions disrupted in the first place. While a definitive solution is far from being reached in major publishing markets, newer and smaller markets are adopting the audiobook format and attempting to determine their most suitable business model. This dynamic and ever-changing context is the main focus of this panel. Panelists will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of existing audio business models, as well as other aspects related to the audiobook format and its future. The challenges faced by small markets, like Slovenia, will be compared to those of larger markets such as the US and Germany.