6 ms·

Anyone knows why Audible's pay is that low? Is it because of the cost to them to produce the audio?

by ncann 4y ago

EEBio 4y ago
Most likely because they are de-facto monopoly, so they will take as much as they can.
asicsp 4y ago
>Is it because of the cost to them to produce the audio? The rates being talked about in the article is just for distribution, doesn't include creating the audiobook. Audible is a publisher as well, but those probably have different deals.
christophilus 4y ago
They have to cover those S3 egress fees somehow, amirite? In all honesty, Audible is a practical monopoly, so it can get away with monopolistic behavior.
ben_w 4y ago
Based on what cstross and others say about book sales in general, I suspect that even at such low rates Audible loses money on the median book, and only bother with most of the audiobooks so they can advertise how many audiobooks they have.
- swsieber 4y ago
  You explain a little? I'm having trouble understanding why hosting an audio book is going to lose audible money. Do they also produce said books?
  - ben_w 4y ago
    They produce some at least, but even when they're just a shopfront they almost certainly pay another fraction of the sales to whoever did make it. Big thing though is how few copies the median book actually sells. From what I can tell, the actual sales for a median book across all media are only the low thousands. Audible's mean (not median) gross revenue per book is ($200e6/y)/(200k titles) = $1k/title/year. I tried looking up Audible's financial info, but the only financial report I saw was from 2007, which said their revenue and expenses for years ending 2006 and 2007 were about equal to each other, and at about half what people say are their current revenue levels: https://last10k.com/sec-filings/1077926 https://last10k.com/sec-filings/1077926
taeric 4y ago
My gut response is because their prices are lower. They offer half the cut, and are usually selling well below half the cost elsewhere. More, most of their sales are almost certainly credit system based, which super complicates how much they sold for. (That and bundled with ebook purchases.) If anyone has data in how much they pay out and how elastic the demand is to increased prices, I'd be interested. As it is, this feels misguided, though.

Anyone knows why Audible's pay is that low? Is it because of the cost to them to produce the audio?

by ncann 4y ago

Anyone knows why Audible's pay is that low? Is it because of the cost to them to produce the audio?

EEBio 4y ago

Most likely because they are de-facto monopoly, so they will take as much as they can.

asicsp 4y ago

>Is it because of the cost to them to produce the audio? The rates being talked about in the article is just for distribution, doesn't include creating the audiobook. Audible is a publisher as well, but those probably have different deals.

christophilus 4y ago

They have to cover those S3 egress fees somehow, amirite? In all honesty, Audible is a practical monopoly, so it can get away with monopolistic behavior.

ben_w 4y ago

Based on what cstross and others say about book sales in general, I suspect that even at such low rates Audible loses money on the median book, and only bother with most of the audiobooks so they can advertise how many audiobooks they have.

swsieber 4y ago
You explain a little? I'm having trouble understanding why hosting an audio book is going to lose audible money. Do they also produce said books?
- ben_w 4y ago
  They produce some at least, but even when they're just a shopfront they almost certainly pay another fraction of the sales to whoever did make it. Big thing though is how few copies the median book actually sells. From what I can tell, the actual sales for a median book across all media are only the low thousands. Audible's mean (not median) gross revenue per book is ($200e6/y)/(200k titles) = $1k/title/year. I tried looking up Audible's financial info, but the only financial report I saw was from 2007, which said their revenue and expenses for years ending 2006 and 2007 were about equal to each other, and at about half what people say are their current revenue levels: https://last10k.com/sec-filings/1077926 https://last10k.com/sec-filings/1077926

taeric 4y ago

My gut response is because their prices are lower. They offer half the cut, and are usually selling well below half the cost elsewhere. More, most of their sales are almost certainly credit system based, which super complicates how much they sold for. (That and bundled with ebook purchases.) If anyone has data in how much they pay out and how elastic the demand is to increased prices, I'd be interested. As it is, this feels misguided, though.