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The flip-side of this is that any author that doesn't agree to exclusivity is just leaving money on the table, because audiobook buyers will not touch alternati

The flip-side of this is that any author that doesn't agree to exclusivity is just leaving money on the table, because audiobook buyers will not touch alternative platforms unless it's their only option. This isn't because Audible is head-and-shoulders above the competition either. They aren't. They just won the game of Monopoly[0]. [0] Someone should turn on house rules. Or - oooh maybe we could play the unused co-op mode

taeric 3y ago
I am curious why you don't think they aren't better than the alternatives? Are they amazing and beyond improvement? Of course not. But most of the alternatives are crap. This is basically the same as the sad affair of enterprise software. The vast majority of that industry is actively bad. Not just not good, but actively bad.
- mtlynch 3y ago
  >I am curious why you don't think they aren't better than the alternatives? Are they amazing and beyond improvement? Of course not. But most of the alternatives are crap. Do you think the quality of the alternatives might be related to the fact that Amazon/Audible is strangling all competitors out of existence with their exclusivity agreements? Imagine if an audiobook competitor popped up that's a 10x better experience for customers and authors. They'd starve out of existence without major VC backing because even though they're better, they can't bring the sales volume that Audible can, so customers choose the worse experience on Audible with the exclusivity agreement because the total earnings are higher. Long-term, that's a worse ecosystem for everyone except for Audible.
  - taeric 3y ago
    No. I think the quality of the alternatives is largely because it is expensive to make the publishing houses happy with licensing fees to be able to offer their work. This isn't even that controversial of a take. Netflix doesn't offer a ton of the things I used to be able to get in DVD from them, because the publishing houses have very high demands on licensing fees.
  - 8note 3y ago
    If apple extended itunes to sell audiobooks, they'd eat audible's lunch without problem. Any podcasting company could do it, because podcasts basically are audiobooks (Also disclaimer, I work at Amazon but not at audible)
    - taeric 3y ago
      I'm confused by this, Apple does sell audio books? Right?

taeric 3y ago

I am curious why you don't think they aren't better than the alternatives? Are they amazing and beyond improvement? Of course not. But most of the alternatives are crap. This is basically the same as the sad affair of enterprise software. The vast majority of that industry is actively bad. Not just not good, but actively bad.

mtlynch 3y ago
>I am curious why you don't think they aren't better than the alternatives? Are they amazing and beyond improvement? Of course not. But most of the alternatives are crap. Do you think the quality of the alternatives might be related to the fact that Amazon/Audible is strangling all competitors out of existence with their exclusivity agreements? Imagine if an audiobook competitor popped up that's a 10x better experience for customers and authors. They'd starve out of existence without major VC backing because even though they're better, they can't bring the sales volume that Audible can, so customers choose the worse experience on Audible with the exclusivity agreement because the total earnings are higher. Long-term, that's a worse ecosystem for everyone except for Audible.
- taeric 3y ago
  No. I think the quality of the alternatives is largely because it is expensive to make the publishing houses happy with licensing fees to be able to offer their work. This isn't even that controversial of a take. Netflix doesn't offer a ton of the things I used to be able to get in DVD from them, because the publishing houses have very high demands on licensing fees.
- 8note 3y ago
  If apple extended itunes to sell audiobooks, they'd eat audible's lunch without problem. Any podcasting company could do it, because podcasts basically are audiobooks (Also disclaimer, I work at Amazon but not at audible)
  - taeric 3y ago
    I'm confused by this, Apple does sell audio books? Right?