Description
Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service owned by Amazon.com Inc. 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.
History
The company's first product was an eponymous portable media player known as the Audible Player; released in 1998, the device contained around 4 megabytes of on-board flash storage, which could hold up to two hours of audio.
On October 24, 1999, Audible suffered a setback when its CEO at the time, Andrew J. Huffman, died of an apparent heart attack. Development proceeded, however, leading to Audible licensing the ACELP codec for its level 3 quality downloads in 2000.
In 2003, Audible reached an agreement with Apple Inc. to be the exclusive provider of audiobooks for iTunes Music Store. This agreement ended in 2017 due to antitrust rulings in the European Union.
In 2005, Audible released "Audible Air", which allowed users to download audiobooks directly to PDAs and smartphones. Audible Air content would update automatically, downloading chapters as required that would then delete themselves after they had been listened to.
On January 31, 2008, Amazon announced it would buy Audible for about $300 million.
In April 2008, Audible began producing exclusive science fiction and fantasy audiobooks under its "Audible Frontiers" imprint. At launch, 25 titles were released.
Audible continued its publishing endeavors in May 2011, when it launched Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), an online rights marketplace and production platform that connects narrators, producers and rights holders in order to create new audiobooks. The platform has been so successful that in 2012, Audible reported it had received more titles from ACX than from its top three audio providers combined. 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. Audible's efforts to make audiobook narration a mainstream art form extends to the narration workshops it offers at acting schools including Juilliard and Tisch School of the Arts; in 2013, the Audible's CEO speculated that the company was the largest single employer of actors in the New York area. In 2014, at Audible's headquarters' six recording studios, producers and voice actors create new audiobooks 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
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.
In 2016, the company announced that it would open a new facility in Newark, New Jersey, the "Innovation Cathedral", in a former church building.
In November 2017, Audible claimed its customers listened to over one billion hours of content during the year.
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.
