The Argument for Audio
The meteoric rise of spoken word audio through podcasts and audiobooks is evidence that, increasingly, your readers are choosing to listen.
2018
Forbes reports that audiobooks is the fastest growing sector in the digital publishing industry. (1)
In the UK, sales of audiobooks increased 43% in 2018 (2) , with leading retailer ‘Audible’ accounting for 3 billion hours of downloaded content.
In addition, a quarter of UK adults (3) and more than half of all Americans (4) listen to podcasts every month.
2019
Data shows that podcasts are overtaking music downloads in popularity, with Ofcom reporting that podcast listeners are up 24% in the last year, and have doubled in the last 5 years. (5)
Deloitte reports that global sales have been growing at 25-30% per annum for the past three years and will hit $3.5bn in 2020. (6)
2020
The rise of audio continues during lockdown. (7)
It is a trend that is not slowing, only helped on its way by technological advances. 5G connectivity, enhanced wi-fi coverage, smartphone hardware and the now ubiquitous noise-cancelling headphones mean that we can listen to whatever we want, wherever we want.
Sources:
1: Forbes.com - Audiobooks Are Officially The Publishing Industry's 2018 Trend
2: TheGuardian.com - New chapter? UK print book sales fall while audiobooks surge 43%
3: UK figures: Digitalaudioworks.co.uk - Acast audio report shows latest podcast figures
4: US figures: Edisonresearch.com - The Infinite Dial 2019
5: Ofcom.org.uk - Audio on demand: the rise of podcasts
6: Deloitte - The ears have it: The rise of audiobooks and podcasting
7: Warc.com - Audio picks up during lockdown
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