Audible (service) facts for kids
 |
|
| Developer | Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon |
|---|---|
| Launch date | 1995 |
| Platform(s) | Fire OS, Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web browser, Wear OS, WatchOS, Windows Phone |
| Pricing model | Variable subscription and a la carte |
Audible is a popular online service where you can listen to audiobooks and podcasts. It lets you buy and stream (listen instantly) audiobooks and other spoken content. You can buy audiobooks one by one, or you can join a special club (subscription). If you join, you get "credits" each month to pick new audiobooks. You also get access to a special library of content.
Audible is the biggest company in the United States that makes and sells audiobooks. It is owned by Audible, which is part of Amazon.com, Inc.. Audible's main office is in Newark, New Jersey.
Contents
The Story of Audible
Early Days and First Devices
Audible started a long time ago, in 1995. Their very first product was a special portable player called the Audible MobilePlayer. It came out in 1997. This device could hold about two hours of audio. To use it, people would download an audiobook from the Audible website.
In 1999, Microsoft invested $11 million in Audible. Later that year, the company faced a sad moment when its CEO, Andrew J. Huffman, passed away. But the company kept going. In 2000, Amazon bought a small part of Audible.
Working with Apple and New Features
In 2003, Audible made a deal with Apple. Audible became the only place to get audiobooks for iTunes Music Store. This agreement ended in 2017 because of rules in the European Union.
Two years later, Audible launched "Audible Air." This cool feature let users download audiobooks right to their PDAs (like early smartphones) and smartphones. The content would even update itself, downloading parts as you needed them. In 2006, Audible started its A-List collection. This collection featured famous books read by well-known actors like Anne Hathaway and Annette Bening.
In 2007, the company's CEO, Donald Katz, moved Audible's main office to Newark, New Jersey. About 125 employees moved with him to the new high-rise building.
Becoming Part of Amazon
On January 31, 2008, Amazon announced that it would buy Audible for about $300 million. In April of that year, Audible started making its own exclusive science fiction and fantasy audiobooks. They released 25 titles at the start.
In May 2011, Audible launched the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). This is an online platform where authors and producers can work together to create audiobooks. ACX became very successful. By 2012, Audible reported that it received more new titles from ACX than from its next three biggest audiobook providers combined.
In March 2012, Audible launched another A-List Collection. This series featured Hollywood stars reading famous books. Actors like Claire Danes, Colin Firth, Anne Hathaway, Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Winslet were part of this. Colin Firth's reading of The End of the Affair even won an award in 2013.
Audible also started offering workshops at acting schools like Juilliard. In 2013, Audible's CEO thought the company might be the biggest employer of actors in the New York area.
In September 2012, Audible added a feature called "Whispersync for Voice." This allows users to switch between reading a book on their Amazon Kindle and listening to the audiobook on Audible, picking up exactly where they left off.
In 2016, Audible announced a new facility in Newark, New Jersey. It's called the "Innovation Cathedral" and is in a former church building.
In July 2019, Audible announced "Audible Captions." This feature would show machine-generated text along with the audio. However, the Association of American Publishers sued Audible, saying it was a copyright violation. The lawsuit was settled in early 2020. Audible agreed not to use the Captions feature without getting special permission.
In November 2020, Audible changed its return policy. This was because some authors were worried that customers were listening to audiobooks and then returning them without paying.
What You Can Listen To
Content and Pricing Plans
Audible has over 200,000 audio programs. This includes audiobooks from many different publishers, radio shows, interviews, and even audio versions of newspapers. You can find books of all types, from adventure to fantasy.
Audible offers different ways to pay. There are subscription plans where you pay a monthly fee. The "Audible Premium Plus" plan gives you credits to buy audiobooks each month. It also gives you access to a special library of audiobooks and podcasts that you can listen to anytime. There's also a "Audible Plus" plan, which is cheaper and gives you access to the special library, but it doesn't include credits to buy new books.
Once you buy an audiobook, it stays in your library forever. You can download or stream it whenever you want. Credits you get from a subscription usually expire after one year.
Original Shows and Stories
Audible also creates its own original content. In 2015, they hired Eric Nuzum to lead their original content development.
In 2016, Audible launched "Audible Channels." This service offers short audio programs, including news and original shows. If you have an Audible subscription or Amazon Prime, you can access these. Audible wanted these shows to be like the original content you might find on services like HBO or Netflix.
Some of their original shows include Where Should We Begin?, a relationship podcast, and Sincerely, X, which features anonymous TED Talks. They also have The Butterfly Effect, a series by Jon Ronson, and West Cork, a true crime podcast.
In 2018, Audible changed its strategy for original content. They started focusing more on "audiobook-first" deals with writers. This means they would work with writers to create audiobooks first.
In late 2020, Audible added a new tier for subscribers to access "Audible Originals." This included over 11,000 titles. These titles featured new audio productions with creators like Common, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Mara, and Michael Caine.
In 2024, Audible announced new audio projects. These include an audio version of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four starring Andrew Garfield and Tom Hardy. Kerry Washington and Daniel Dae Kim also performed in an adaptation of the Broadway play "Yellow Face".
Where You Can Use Audible
Audible works on many different devices. You can use it on computers running Windows or Mac. It also works on mobile phones and tablets like iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. You can even listen on Amazon Kindle devices, smart TVs, smart speakers, and in-car entertainment systems.
For Linux devices, Audible doesn't have an official app. However, users can use other software to play Audible files.
If you have an iOS device, you can use Audible on iPhone 6 and newer models, iPad mini 4 and newer, and all macOS devices running macOS Ventura 13.3 or higher.
Android users can access Audible on devices running Android OS 9.0 and above.
For Windows devices, Audible provides the AudibleSync app. This app works with Windows 10 and Windows 11. It also lets you transfer audiobooks to MP3 players.
Audible also supports special accessibility devices for people with visual impairments or blindness. These include devices like the Milestone 212 and 312, and the Victor Reader Stream 2 and 3.
How Audible Files Work
Audible uses special file formats for its audiobooks, like .aa and .aax. These files have sound encoded in them. They also include a way to prevent unauthorized playback. This means you need an Audible username and password to listen, and you can use it on a certain number of devices at once.
Audible's content can only be played on specific mobile devices. However, their software does allow users to burn a limited number of CDs. These CDs can then be copied or changed into other digital audio formats.
Some people have criticized Audible for using digital rights management (DRM) on its files. DRM is a technology that controls how you can use digital content. While some software can remove Audible's DRM, Audible has taken action against companies that promote this.
Many Audible listings are geo-blocked for customers outside the U.S. This means certain titles are not available in all regions. This happens because the publisher might not have the rights to distribute the file everywhere.
There was hope that Amazon would remove DRM from Audible audiobooks after buying the company. However, Audible's products still use DRM, similar to how Kindle e-books have DRM. But, if an Audible title is DRM-free, you can copy it to a Kindle and it will work.
Audible can offer DRM-free titles if content providers choose to do so.
Audible's Big Role in Audiobooks
Audible runs the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). This platform helps authors and publishers work with professional actors and producers to create audiobooks. These audiobooks are then sold on Amazon and iTunes. Currently, ACX is available to people in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland.
Audible produces about 10,000 new titles every year. It might even be the largest employer of actors in New York City.
See Also
- RBMedia
- LibriVox
- Storytel
