Audible (service)

Last updated

Audible, Inc.
Audible logo.svg
DeveloperAudible, a subsidiary of Amazon
Launch date1995;29 years ago (1995)
Platform(s) Fire OS, Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web browser, Wear OS, WatchOS, Windows Phone
Pricing modelVariable subscription and a la carte
Website www.audible.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receives "credits" that can be redeemed for content monthly and receive access to a curated on-demand library of content. Audible is the United States' largest audiobook producer and retailer. [1] [2] The service is owned by Audible, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. [3] [4]

Contents

History

The company's first product was an eponymous portable media player known as the Audible MobilePlayer; released in 1997, the device contained around four megabytes of on-board flash memory storage, which could hold up to two hours of audio. To use the player, consumers would download an audiobook from Audible website. [5] [6]

On March 11, 1999, Microsoft invested $11 million into the company. [7] [8] On October 24, 1999, Audible suffered a setback when its CEO, Andrew J. Huffman, died. [9] Development proceeded, however, leading to Audible licensing the ACELP codec for its downloads in 2000, [10] and Amazon bought a 5 percent stake in the then-publicly traded company the same year. [8]

In 2003, Audible reached an agreement with Apple to be the exclusive provider of audiobooks for iTunes Music Store. This agreement ended in 2017 due to antitrust rulings in the European Union. [11]

Two years later, the service released "Audible Air", which allowed users to download audiobooks directly to PDAs and smartphones. Its content would update automatically, downloading chapters as required that would then delete themselves after they had been listened to. [12] In 2006, the company released its A-List collection, which had famous works read by Anne Hathaway and Annette Bening. [8]

One Washington Park headquarters, in Newark, New Jersey OneWashingtonParkNewarkRutgersBusinessSchool.JPG
One Washington Park headquarters, in Newark, New Jersey

In 2007, CEO Donald Katz moved the company headquarters with 125 employees from suburban Wayne, New Jersey to Newark. [8] The new headquarters was a high-rise building on One Washington Park. [4]

On January 31, 2008, Amazon announced they would purchase Audible for about $300 million. [13] In April of that year, Audible began producing exclusive science fiction and fantasy audiobooks under its "Audible Frontiers" imprint. At launch, 25 titles were released. [14]

In May 2011, the service launched Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), an online rights marketplace and production platform. [15] [16] [17] The platform was so successful that in 2012, Audible reported it had received more titles from ACX than from its top three audio providers combined. [16] In March 2012, Audible launched the A-List Collection, a series showcasing Hollywood stars including Claire Danes, Colin Firth, Anne Hathaway, Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Winslet performing great works of literature. Firth's performance of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair was named Audiobook of the Year at the Audie Awards in 2013.

The service began offering its narration workshops at acting schools, including Juilliard and Tisch School of the Arts; in 2013, Audible's CEO speculated that the company was the largest single employer of actors in the New York area. [18]

In September 2012, Audible introduced a feature known as "Whispersync for Voice", which allows users to continue audiobooks from where they left off reading them on Amazon Kindle. [19]

The former Second Presbyterian Church in Newark was repurposed as Audible's "Innovation Cathedral". Audible.Innovation.Cathedral.Newark.jpg
The former Second Presbyterian Church in Newark was repurposed as Audible's "Innovation Cathedral".

In 2016, the company announced that it would open a new facility in Newark, New Jersey, the "Innovation Cathedral", in a former Second Presbyterian Church, last used in 1995. [4]

In July 2019, a new feature was announced called Audible Captions, in which machine-generated text would be displayed alongside the audio narration. The company was sued by the Association of American Publishers shortly thereafter for copyright violation. [20] [21] The lawsuit was settled in early 2020, with Audible agreeing not to implement the Captions feature without obtaining express permission. [22]

In November 2020, Audible modified its return and exchange policy in response to concerns by authors, who felt that customers were abusing the policy to listen to audiobooks without paying. [23]

Content and pricing

Audible's content includes more than 200,000 audio programs from audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers and business information providers. [24] Content includes books of all genres, as well as radio shows (classic and current), speeches, interviews, stand-up comedy, and audio versions of periodicals such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal .

The service offered two monthly subscription tiers, "Audible Gold" and "Audible Platinum", priced at US$14.95 and $22.95 respectively: Both services allow users to obtain credits which can be used to purchase audio books (one whole credit for Gold, and two whole credits on Platinum), while Platinum also included additional incentives such as exclusive discounts. On August 24, 2020, Audible replaced both plans with "Audible Premium Plus" (a renaming of Gold, though with the Platinum pricing and credits grandfathered for existing subscribers), and introduced a new $7.95 subscription tier known as "Audible Plus." Both tiers include access to a curated on-demand library of audiobooks, podcasts, and other original productions, while the Audible Plus tier does not include credits. [25] [26] [27]

Once a customer has purchased a title, it remains in that person's library and can be downloaded or streamed at any time. [25] [26] As of April 1, 2019, credits expire one year after issue, and credits prior to this day expire after two years. [27]

Original content

In May 2015, Audible hired Eric Nuzum, formerly VP of programming at NPR, as its SVP of original content development. [28]

In 2016, the service introduced an on-demand service known as "Audible Channels", which features short-form audio programming from various outlets, including news and other original productions. Access is included as part of Audible's subscription, and also became available to Amazon Prime subscribers. [29] Nuzum compared this strategy to original content created by HBO or Netflix, [30] [31] and stated that the service deliberately avoided use of the word "podcast" as to not alienate listeners unfamiliar with the concept. [32] [33]

Among its original productions are Where Should We Begin?—a relationship podcast with Esther Perel, [34] Sincerely, X'—a podcast featuring anonymous TED Talks, [35] Ponzi Supernova—a chronicle of the Madoff investment scandal, [36] The Butterfly Effect—a podcast series by Jon Ronson chronicling the impact of PornHub on internet pornography, [37] and West Cork, a true crime podcast investigating an unsolved 1996 murder in West Cork, Ireland. [38]

In August 2018, it was reported that Nuzum was stepping down, and that Amazon had laid off most of the short-form content staff. This move came amid a shift in Audible's original content strategy, including a greater focus on "audiobook-first" deals with writers. [39] [40] [41]

The service's new strategy for original content was announced in fall 2020 with the debut of a new lower-price tier providing access to "Audible Originals." The new tier, called Premium Plus, provided access at the time of introduction to 11,000 audio titles available only by subscription to Audible. These titles included earlier original material, plus new audio productions featuring such creators as Common, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Mara, Harvey Fierstein, Michael Caine and Jesse Eisenberg. [42] More recent releases include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's memoir [43] and two works by Brown Sugar screenwriter Michael Elliot. [44]

Device support

Audible audio files are compatible with hundreds of audio players, PDAs, mobile phones and streaming media devices. [45] Devices that do not have AudibleAir capability (allowing users to download content from their library directly into their devices) require a Windows PC or Macintosh to download the files. Additionally, titles can be played on the PC (using iTunes or AudibleManager). Titles cannot be burned to CD with AudibleManager. According to Audible's website, they can be burned to CD using Apple's iTunes and some versions of Nero. (The DRM generally allows a title to be burned to CD once, although the resulting CDs can be played in any CD player and have no copy prevention.) [45] Currently there is no support for Linux, although AudibleManager is known to work through Wine (though this is not officially supported by Audible). [46] [47]

Prospective buyers of media players can check the audible.com "Device Center" [48] to verify whether the device will play .aa files, as well as play them at the desired level of audio fidelity. Audible players are available on Apple iPhones, iPods, Android, and Windows Phone devices.

The Audible App allows for the downloading and playing of audio books purchased via Audible.com and allows the user to store multiple titles for play on mobile devices using the AA file format developed by Audible. [49]

Quality

The following qualities have been available from Audible. Currently, only the "Format 4" and "Enhanced" formats are available for download. [50]

Format nameBitrateSample rateBit depthChannelMBytes/hourContainerQuality description
Audible Enhanced Audio (.aax)*32 - 128 kbit/s22.050 - 44.10 kHzUn­knownMono or stereo28.8 MPEG-4 Part 14 AAC sound
Format 4 (.aa)32 kbit/s22.050 kHz16bitMono14.4MP3MP3 sound
Format 3 (.aa)16 kbit/s22.050 kHz16bitMono7.2UnknownFM radio sound
Format 2 (.aa)8 kbit/s22.050 kHz16bitMono3.7UnknownAM radio sound

Digital rights management

Audible's .aa file format encapsulates sound encoded in either MP3 or the ACELP speech codec, but includes unauthorized-playback prevention by means of an Audible username and password, which can be used on up to four computers and three smartphones at a time. Licenses are available for schools and libraries.

Audible's content can only be played on selected mobile devices. Its software does enable users to burn a limited number of CDs for unrestricted playback, resulting in CDs that can be copied or converted to unrestricted digital audio formats.

Because of the CD issue, Audible's use of digital rights management on its .aa format has earned it criticism. [51] While multiple software products are capable of removing the Audible DRM protection by re-encoding in other formats, [52] Audible has been quick to threaten the software makers with lawsuits for discussing or promoting this ability, as happened with River Past Corp and GoldWave Inc. [53] Responses have varied, with River Past removing the capability from their software, and GoldWave retaining the capability, but censoring discussions about the ability in its support forums.[ citation needed ] But there are still many other software tools from non-US countries which easily bypass the DRM control of Audible by various methods, including sound recording, virtual CD burning, and even using a media plugin library once provided by Audible themselves. [54] After Apple's abandonment of most DRM measures, Amazon's downloads ceasing to use it, Audible's DRM system is one of the few remaining in place.

Many Audible listings displayed to non-U.S. customers are geo-blocked. According to Audible, this is because the publisher who has provided the title does not have the rights to distribute the file in a given region. Logged in are unable to see titles that are unavailable for purchase. [55]

There were hopes [56] that Amazon, after its purchase of Audible, would remove the DRM from its audiobook selection, in keeping with the current trend in the industry. Nevertheless, Audible's products continue to have DRM, similar to the policy of DRM-protecting their Kindle e-books, which have DRM that allows for a finite, yet undisclosed number of downloads at the discretion of the publisher, however Audible titles that are DRM free can be copied to the Kindle and made functional. [57]

Audible is able to offer DRM-free titles for content providers who wish to do so. [58] FFmpeg 2.8.1+ is capable of playing Audible's .aa and .aax file formats natively. [59] [60]

Market power

Audible operates the Audiobook Creation Exchange, which enables individual authors or publishers to work with professional actors and producers to create audiobooks, which are then distributed to Amazon and iTunes. Currently, the service is available to residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. [61] Audible produces 10,000 titles a year and may be the largest employer of actors in New York City. [62]

See also

Related Research Articles

Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a series of audio codecs and their corresponding audio coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs. The original WMA codec, known simply as WMA, was conceived as a competitor to the popular MP3 and RealAudio codecs. WMA Pro, a newer and more advanced codec, supports multichannel and high-resolution audio. A lossless codec, WMA Lossless, compresses audio data without loss of audio fidelity. WMA Voice, targeted at voice content, applies compression using a range of low bit rates. Microsoft has also developed a digital container format called Advanced Systems Format to store audio encoded by WMA.

Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) is a family of proprietary audio compression algorithms developed by Sony. MiniDisc was the first commercial product to incorporate ATRAC, in 1992. ATRAC allowed a relatively small disc like MiniDisc to have the same running time as CD while storing audio information with minimal perceptible loss in quality. Improvements to the codec in the form of ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus, and ATRAC Advanced Lossless followed in 1999, 2002, and 2006 respectively.

iTunes Apples media library and media player software

iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating systems, and can be used to rip songs from CDs as well as playing content from dynamic, smart playlists. It includes options for sound optimization and wirelessly sharing iTunes libraries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FFmpeg</span> Multimedia framework

FFmpeg is a free and open-source software project consisting of a suite of libraries and programs for handling video, audio, and other multimedia files and streams. At its core is the command-line ffmpeg tool itself, designed for processing video and audio files. It is widely used for format transcoding, basic editing, video scaling, video post-production effects, and standards compliance.

Windows Media Video (WMV) is a series of video codecs and their corresponding video coding formats developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Windows Media framework. WMV consists of three distinct codecs: The original video compression technology known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other compression technologies, WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater for specialized content. After standardization by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), WMV version 9 was adapted for physical-delivery formats such as HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc and became known as VC-1. Microsoft also developed a digital container format called Advanced Systems Format to store video encoded by Windows Media Video.

A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, but some distribute in video, either as their primary content or as a supplement to audio; popularised in recent years by video platform YouTube.

Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other software.

Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver digital video content over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player version 6 and newer. Flash Video content may also be embedded within SWF files. There are two different Flash Video file formats: FLV and F4V. The audio and video data within FLV files are encoded in the same way as SWF files. The F4V file format is based on the ISO base media file format, starting with Flash Player 9 update 3. Both formats are supported in Adobe Flash Player and developed by Adobe Systems. FLV was originally developed by Macromedia. In the early 2000s, Flash Video was the de facto standard for web-based streaming video. Users include Hulu, VEVO, Yahoo! Video, metacafe, Reuters.com, and many other news providers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SanDisk portable media players</span> Line of portable media players

SanDisk has produced a number of flash memory-based digital audio and portable media players since 2005. The current range of products bears the SanDisk Clip name. SanDisk players were formerly marketed under the Sansa name until 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genevieve Gaunt</span> English actress

Genevieve Wilhelmina Gaunt is an English actress and voice over artist known for portraying Pansy Parkinson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Wilhelmina "Willow" Moreno Henstridge in The Royals.

Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, Audible audiobooks, and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. The hardware platform, which Amazon subsidiary Lab126 developed, began as a single device in 2007. Currently, it comprises a range of devices, including e-readers with E Ink electronic paper displays and Kindle applications on all major computing platforms. All Kindle devices integrate with Windows and macOS file systems and Kindle Store content and, as of March 2018, the store had over six million e-books available in the United States.

Amazon Music is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TuneIn</span> American audio streaming service

TuneIn is a global audio streaming service providing news, radio, sports, music, and podcasts to over 75 million monthly active users.

Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM), such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification and distribution of copyrighted works and of systems that enforce these policies within devices. DRM technologies include licensing agreements and encryption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EPUB</span> E-book format

EPUB is an e-book file format that uses the ".epub" file extension. The term is short for electronic publication and is sometimes stylized as ePUB. EPUB is supported by many e-readers, and compatible software is available for most smartphones, tablets, and computers. EPUB is a technical standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). It became an official standard of the IDPF in September 2007, superseding the older Open eBook (OEB) standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnes & Noble Nook 1st Edition</span> First generation Nook e-reader developed by Barnes & Noble

The Nook 1st Edition is the first generation of the Nook e-book reader developed by American book retailer Barnes & Noble, based on the Android platform. The device was announced in the United States in October 2009 and was released the next month. The Nook includes Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless connectivity, a six-inch E Ink display, and a separate, smaller color touchscreen that serves as the primary input device. In June 2010 Barnes & Noble announced a Wi-Fi-only model of the Nook. On June 5, 2018 Barnes and Noble announced support for logging in to BN.com and adding new content to the device will end on June 29, 2018. The second-generation Nook, the Nook Simple Touch, was announced on May 25, 2011 with a June 10 release date.

The following comparison of audio players compares general and technical information for a number of software media player programs. For the purpose of this comparison, "audio players" are defined as any media player explicitly designed to play audio files, with limited or no support for video playback. Multi-media players designed for video playback, which can also play music, are included under comparison of video player software.

Didiom was a digital media company that specialized in the development of streaming media applications and wireless content delivery platforms. Built on peer-to-peer placeshifting technology, the company's flagship product allowed customers to stream their home computer's audio collection to their phone wirelessly, eliminating the need for data cables and memory cards. With two million songs under its management, Didiom previously launched an on-device music store that allowed customers to name their own prices for music downloads. In February 2011, Didiom was acquired by SnapOne, Inc.

AudioGO was a British publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased a majority share in BBC Audiobooks, and traded until it went into administration in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon Fire</span> Amazon Fire tablet timeline

The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS technology and running on Fire OS, an Android-based operating system. The Kindle Fire HD followed in September 2012, and the Kindle Fire HDX in September 2013. In September 2014, when the fourth generation was introduced, the name "Kindle" was dropped. In later generations, the Fire tablet is also able to convert into a Smart speaker turning on the "Show Mode" options, which the primary interaction will be by voice command through Alexa.

References

  1. Alexandra Alter (August 1, 2013). "The New Explosion in Audio Books". The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  2. NJ.com, Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for (May 21, 2019). "Renovated church is 'incredible,' but we're part of its history, too, activists say". nj. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  3. "Amazon.com Completes Acquisition of Audible". Amazon.com, Inc. March 19, 2008. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ivers, Dan (January 17, 2019). "Audiobook giant Audible to expand operation into historic Newark church". NJ.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  5. Redburn, Tom (September 23, 1998). "His Dream Is That We'll All Hear Little Voices". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. Newton, Casey (December 17, 2014). "Inside the secret lab where Amazon is designing the future of reading". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  7. "Microsoft, MSFT, Investor Relations, Stock, Stock Split, Stock Price Look up, Investment Calculator". www.microsoft.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Meet Don Katz, the visionary CEO of Audible". December 8, 2013. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  9. "Audible President And Chief Executive Officer Andrew J. Huffman Dies". Press Release. PRNewswire. October 25, 1999. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  10. "Audible Chooses VoiceAge's ACELP.net as Preferred Speech Codec". Voice Age. Archived from the original on December 30, 2006. Retrieved December 17, 2006. Recognition of ACELP.net by the Leading Spoken Audio Service on the Web
  11. "Audible's iTunes exclusivity ends following antitrust pushback in Europe". TechCrunch. January 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  12. Pogue, David (October 13, 2005). "A Marriage of Bookshelf and Phone". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  13. Paul, Franklin (January 31, 2008). "Amazon to buy Audible for $300 million". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  14. "Audible Announces New Imprint and Exclusive Agreements with Orson Scott Card and Other Top Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers". BusinessWire.com. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. April 28, 2008. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  15. Paul Guliani, Amazon's Audible.com sees ten-fold increase in audiobook production Archived January 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , NY Daily News , January 31, 2013
  16. 1 2 Max Humphreys, Audible's Audiobook Creation Exchange Reports Big Growth In 2012 Archived January 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , NextAdvisor, February 4, 2013
  17. Staff writer, Keeping Up With the New Demand for Audiobooks Archived August 2, 2022, at the Wayback Machine , Publishing Trends, August 1, 2011
  18. Actors today just don't read for the part, reading is the part Archived August 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine New York Times, June 30, 2016
  19. "Kindle And Audible's Whispersync For Voice Review: The Best Of Both Worlds". CINEMABLEND. October 12, 2012. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  20. "American Publishers Sue To Stop 'Audible Captions'". Publishing Perspectives. August 24, 2019. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  21. Lee, Timothy B. (August 24, 2019). "Book publishers sue Audible to stop new speech-to-text feature". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  22. "Copyright: US Publishers Succeed in 'Audible Captions' Case". Publishing Perspectives. February 7, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  23. "Audible adjusts terms after row over 'easy exchanges' that cut royalties". The Guardian. November 26, 2020. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  24. "About Audible". about.audible.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  25. 1 2 Holloway, Daniel (August 24, 2020). "Audible Launches New Unlimited Subscription Tier Audible Plus". Variety. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  26. 1 2 Carman, Ashley (August 24, 2020). "Audible launches a cheaper subscription plan for access to its exclusive podcasts and audio content". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  27. 1 2 Liptak, Andrew (April 10, 2019). "Audible will now let you keep your membership credits for a full year". The Verge. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  28. Sefton, Drue (May 15, 2015). "NPR Programmer Nuzum Moving to Audible to Oversee Original Content". Current. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  29. "Amazon adds another Prime benefit: free podcasts from Audible Channels and free audiobooks". TechCrunch. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  30. Johnson, Steve (July 16, 2018). "Audible Tries HBO for Audio with New Channels Service". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  31. Chokshi, Niraj (July 7, 2016). "Amazon's Audible Goes Long on Short Term Audio". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  32. Etherington, Darrell (July 7, 2016). "Audible's new Channels audio content subscription service is a bet on a voice-powered future". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  33. Gamerman, Ellen (July 7, 2016). "Amazon's Audible Launches On-Demand Audio Service, Channels". WSJ. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  34. Schwartz, Alexandra. "Esther Perel Lets us Listen in On Couple's Secrets". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  35. Leiber, Jessica (August 24, 2016). "TED Talks But Anonymously: Sincerely X is a new podcast meant for secret big ideas". Fast Company. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  36. Sturges, Fiona (March 11, 2018). "Podcast: Ponzi Supernova — the electrifying story of Bernie Madoff" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  37. "'The Butterfly Effect' explores tech's impact on the porn industry". Engadget. July 17, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  38. Quah, Nicholas (March 7, 2018). "West Cork Audible Podcast Review". Vulture. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  39. Quah, Nicholas (August 7, 2018). "A big shakeup at Audible has left the audiobook giant's podcast strategy unclear". Nieman Lab Blog. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  40. Alter, Alexandra (June 2, 2018). "Want to Read Michael Lewis's Next Work? You'll Be Able to Listen to It First". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  41. Sheehan, Jason (May 31, 2017). "'The Dispatcher' Is A Short Stroll In A Strange Neighborhood". NPR.org. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  42. "Audible Introduces Lower-Priced Subscription Tier". Deadline Hollywood . August 24, 2020. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  43. "Newark mayor and spoken word artist Ras Baraka's next project? An audio memoir". January 27, 2022. Archived from the original on February 5, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  44. "Queen Latifah podcast coming to Audible as part of Flavor Unit deal". July 19, 2021. Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  45. 1 2 How Audible Works, How Audible works at audible.com, April 22, 2007
  46. Audible.com and Linux... Arghh Archived December 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , Todd Partridge (Gen2ly), Audible.com and Linux... Arghh., September 21, 2011
  47. Archived December 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , Wine, WineHQ - AudibleManager, December 17, 2014
  48. "Device Center". Audible.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  49. "AA File Extension - What is a .aa file and how do I open it?". fileinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  50. "Site Maintenance in progress". audible.custhelp.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  51. Why I Won't Be Adding Audible.com to My Xmas Card List Archived January 25, 2006, at the Wayback Machine , O'Reilly Mac DevCenter Blog, January 3, 2003
  52. "Remove DRM from Audible's audio books (Removing copy-protection from .AA files) - Audio/video stream recording forums". stream-recorder.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  53. "Company Threatens Audio Editing Software Creator April 20, 2004". Chillingeffects.org. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  54. "Audible.com without DRM". swankandswill.blogspot.com. July 2010. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  55. "Audible.com FAQ". Audible.CustHelp.com. Retrieved June 28, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  56. Doctorow, Cory (February 21, 2008). "Random House Audio abandons audiobook DRM". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  57. "Kindle mp3 Audible Hack - Nickinator Nick Jones". Nickinator.info. January 28, 2012. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  58. "Audible.com FAQ". Audible.custhelp.com. April 23, 2012. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  59. "FFmpeg Audible AAX". FFmpeg. December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  60. "FFmpeg Audible AA". FFmpeg. December 25, 2015. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  61. "Audiobooks Through ACX". kdp.amazon.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  62. Kaufman, Leslie (June 29, 2013). "Actors Today Don't Just Read for the Part. Reading IS the Part". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 25, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.