When Audiobooks and Podcasts Collide

The coming collision of audiobooks and podcasts means more choice for consumers along with more confusion – and more opportunity – for publishers, authors, and other content producers.

As the audio revolution has unfolded, audiobooks and podcasts have existed largely in worlds adjacent, with the simplicity of a major retailer for audiobooks and a major source for podcasts. But change is upon us.

The recent acquisition of multiple podcast networks is creating rivals in the world of podcasts. Meanwhile, audiobook publishers are evolving beyond their signature format with the development of original works that exist in a middle ground between audiobooks (longer) and podcasts (shorter).

This coming collision of audiobooks and podcasts means more choice for consumers along with more confusion – and more opportunity – for publishers, authors, and other content producers. What’s driving the change is consumer listening behavior, as Michele Cobb of the Audio Publishers Association (APA) told CCC’s Chris Kenneally in October at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

“If you are an audiobook listener who listens to podcasts, you consume twice as many audiobooks as audiobook listeners who don’t listen to podcasts. We often hear the term that the two formats are gateway drugs for each other,” Cobb said. “You start listening to podcasts. You’re like, ‘ooh, I like audio! Now, I’m going to try this audiobook.’ And vice versa. It’s really supporting the idea of audio listening, and it’s creating a younger audience as well.”

Panelists for the Frankfurt Book Fair program included –

• Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives, founded and operated by Frankfurt Book Fair New York. Earlier this year, Anderson was named London Book Fair’s inaugural International Trade Press Journalist of the Year.
• John Marshall Cheary, who has recorded, edited, and produced tens of thousands of audio productions including GRAMMY-winning audiobooks, language programs, enhanced eBooks, and songs for such clients as Penguin Random House, Disney, HarperAudio, Amazon, and Pearson. In 2019, John Marshall Media (JMM) launched BOOM Integrated to bring audio excellence to the emerging voice marketplace: podcasts and interactive smart speaker experiences for Alex, Siri, and Google Assistant.
• Michele Cobb, who has served on the APA board since 2001, as a director and officer, and currently as APA Executive Director. Cobb is a partner at Forte Business Consulting, which provides marketing and business development services for the publishing industry. She he is Publisher of both AudioFile Magazine and MMB Media, as well as Audio Publishing Director for L.A. Theatre Works.
• Valentina Kaledina, Business Development Manager at Castbox, where she is responsible for partnerships with podcasters in Europe. Kaledina co-hosts a weekly live show PodBites for the Castbox platform Livecast. She began her career as a journalist including for AFP in Paris.