Audible to Partner With Publishers to Create AI-Voiced Audiobooks

Amazon.com's Audible is working with US-based book publishers to convert print and e-books into artificial intelligence-voiced audiobooks,  helping to expand its catalog particularly in non-English speaking markets.

“Every book deserves to be heard in audio,” Bob Carrigan, chief executive officer of Audible, said in an interview. Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing, according to Audible, but only two percent to five percent of existing print and e-books exist in audio form, he said. “Our goal is to close that gap.”

Publishers can select from more than 100 AI-generated voices across English, Spanish, French and Italian, including numerous accent and dialect options. Titles can be either created exclusively for Audible, with a more favorable royalty rate, or for distribution outside its platform. 

Soon, Audible will also offer a translation feature that can convert text and audio into multiple languages in addition to the original.

“The opportunity to use AI to bring more storytelling to more people in more languages is a really exciting one,” Carrigan said.

Audible membership, which costs $14.95 (roughly Rs. 1,275) a month for audiobooks and podcasts, is at an all-time high, Carrigan said late last year. It's launched in some new territories recently, including Brazil, and has been experimenting with new subscription tiers and royalty models to keep its edge against Spotify Technology SA, which recently incorporated audiobook listening in its music-streaming and podcasting app.

The company generally doesn't allow publishers to upload AI-voiced audiobooks that were made using third-party tools, suggesting they'll have to work with Audible's technology to tap into its significant audience.

Audible has been letting self-published authors in the US employ these virtual voices to turn their e-books into audiobooks. More than 60,000 such titles are marked as narrated by these voices on Audible, up from 40,000 around this time last year.

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