Audiobooks for the multi-tasker
There are many who would like to ‘read’ while being engaged in other activities
We have all grown up listening to our grandmothers’ tales. Now, imagine animated expressions such as hers captured by a voice playing on Alexa or Echo. Audiobooks, to put it simply, are where Grandma meets technology.
The primary audience for audiobooks, according to Arcopol Chaudhuri, rights and backlist manager, Harpercollins, is people who want to read more but don’t find the time for it. “Also, many people read English but are all at sea when it comes to their mother tongue. They can now listen to audiobooks in multiple languages. A whole new world of literature opens up for them,” says Chaudhuri.
A boon for passive listeners:
Audiobooks steal a march over e-books because they can be used for passive listening—while one is travelling, walking, working out at the gym, cooking, or during other chores. Author Reham Khan feels audio books are a godsend. Says Khan: “All of us, including my children, are ardent readers of traditional hardbound books. But I love audio books because one can listen to them while driving or ironing. I read a lot on smart devices, too, because carrying a small phone around is convenient. But audio books enable you to give your eyes some rest.”
Voice artists make the difference:
For an audio book, the biggest tool apart from words is the voice. Book brands invest a lot in getting the best voiceover artists such as Boman Irani, Konkana Sen Sharma, Neelesh Misra, etc who can weave images with voice modulation, expression and intonation. Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai, who has recorded several audio books, says it is imperative that the pitch of the voiceover is in sync with the genre. “In a thriller audiobook, the pitch and the baritone need to be deep while in case of a motivational audiobook it should be soft. Tonality and voice modulation can help define the character in a story. They cannot be the same for a humorous character and one full of attitude.”
India’s audiobook market is dominated by brands such as Amazon’s Audible, Google’s Audiobooks and Storytel. Typically, the books cost between ~99 and 599. Many are free. Affordable monthly and annual subscription plans ( see table) are also available.
At Audible, the current best-sellers include J.K Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, and The Rudest Book Ever by Shwetabh Gangwar. Audible Suno was launched recently with programming specifically designed for people to consume during the lockdown, with titles such as Qisse Lockdown Ke.
At Storytel, the most read titles are The Power of your subconscious mind: How to talk to anybody, anytime, anywhere; and Ikigai. According to Yogesh Dashrath, country manager-india, Storytel, “While the English listening audiences lean more towards themes like personal development, biographies and business, the most trending genres among Hindi listeners are fiction, romance and biographies.” Storytel also creates stories under its Original series. “There is a lot of demand for our original content in Hindi. The most popular titles currently are Dilliwali, Godse, and Twin Beds,” he says.
Making the most of their commute:
Commuting time is when customers around the world listen to audiobooks. With much of the workforce around the globe working from home these days, the consumption pattern has changed. According to Shailesh Sawlani, country head, Audible India, “Instead of concentrated listening during morning or evening commutes, more customers are listening to Audible nowadays for short mental-health breaks during the workday, while exercising or walking, as a pre-bed relaxation routine, or as a private, screen-free wind-down ritual at the end of the day.” Audible Stories, their new service that makes hundreds of titles in eight languages available to children free of charge, has been received well.
A personalised or shared experience:
Listening to an audiobook can be an immersive personal experience by plugging in earphones, or it can be a shared one using external speakers. Listeners can access the book library using any Alexa-enabled speakers or listen to them on their home audio systems. The biggest gift audiobooks offer listeners, according to Sawlani, is the “found time” they provide, particularly when they can’t or don’t want to use their eyes to read.
With bookstores closed and ecommerce portals not delivering books, consumption of audiobooks has increased during the lockdown. Says Prashanth Rao, partner, Deloitte India: “Some publishers have released digitalfirst editions recently. The physical copies of these books will become available once the lockdown ends. The major players in this sector have launched audiobooks with targeted content and free usage offers for the lockdown period.”