Will the French audiobook market be turned upside down with the arrival of Spotify? Until now, Audible, an Amazon subsidiary, reigned in this niche. But the entry into the niche of the world number one in music streaming, in mid-October, is already changing the situation. This new competitor risks making Audible’s offerings, but also those of number two, Apple Books, obsolete and less attractive. Spotify now offers its 7 million French subscribers twelve hours of free audiobook listening every month. Thus, they have access, at no additional cost, to 15,000 references in French. The Swedish group has signed agreements with a hundred publishers, including the specialized audiobook subsidiaries of Hachette and Albin Michel, Editis, Gallimard, Actes Sud, L’Ecole des Loisirs, Bayard and Editions des Femmes.
On the other hand, the Audible offer allows you to purchase, for 9.95 euros, a single audiobook per month from a catalog of 20,000 titles in French. Suffice it to say that you should not make a mistake in choosing the monthly work, although it is also possible to use a very small catalog of 1,500 titles in French for free, but a larger one, of 40,000 titles in English. However, this model, which has already been applied in ten countries, has proven effective. Purchased audiobooks remain available, even after cancellation or if the subscription is paused. For its part, Apple Books sells, without a subscription, mainly audiobooks at full price.
“Audible and Spotify are two complementary offers”says Laure Saget, general director of Audiolib (co-owned by Hachette Livre and Albin Michel), which allows you to sell different books. “The obligation to choose in a drastic and radical way favors, at Audible, the purchase of best sellers”she said. Clients take less risk, but also prefer “the longest titles to optimize your subscription”duck. As for Spotify, it attracts a younger audience who delve deeper into the offering, discover several authors or try several genres before deciding to listen to a complete book.
This new proposal allows you to discover more atypical formats, such as stories or books intended for children. “This will rejuvenate and democratize the audiobook audience”predicts Laure Saget. Highlights the way Spotify editorializes its offering. “like a bookshelf, with playlists and principles of recommendations and recipes” in very specialized areas, “Like Japanese literature”.
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