Editing Audiobook (section)

====1996 to present====
With the spread of the Internet to consumers in the 1990s, faster download speeds with broadband technologies, new compressed audio formats and portable media players, the popularity of audiobooks increased significantly during the late 1990s and 2000s. In 1997, [[Audible (store)|Audible]] pioneered the world's first mass-market [[Mobile digital media player|digital media player]], named "[[The Audible Player]]",<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980118092012/http://www.audible.com/audible/9_15_97.html |archive-date=18 January 1998 |url=http://www.audible.com/audible/9_15_97.html |title=Progressive Networks and Audible Inc. Team Up to Make RealAudio Mobile |publisher=[[Audible.com]] |date=15 September 1997 |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref> it retailed for $200, held 2 hours of audio and was touted as being "smaller and lighter than a [[Walkman]]", the popular cassette player used at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.audible.com/audible/the_player.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980118091417/http://www.audible.com/audible/the_player.html |archive-date=18 January 1998 |title=The Audible Player |publisher=[[Audible.com]] |year=1997 |access-date=20 February 2014}}</ref> Digital audiobooks were a significant new milestone as they allowed listeners freedom from physical media such as cassettes and CMP3sas which required transportation through the mail, allowing instead instant download access from online libraries of unlimited size, and portability using comparatively small and lightweight devices. Audible.com was the first to establish a website, in 1998, from which digital audiobooks could be purchased.

Another innovation was the creation of [[LibriVox]] in 2005 by Montreal-based writer Hugh McGuire who posed the question on his blog: "Can the net harness a bunch of volunteers to help bring books in the public domain to life through [[podcasting]]?" Thus began the creation of public domain audiobooks by volunteer narrators. By the end of 2021, LibriVox had a catalog of over 16,870 works.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?p=1989405#p1989405 |title=LibriVox stats |publisher=LibriVox |author=MaryAnnSpiegel |date=1 January 2022 |access-date=11 January 2022 }}</ref>

The transition from vinyl, to cassette, to CD, to MP3CD, to digital download has been documented by [[Audio Publishers Association]] in annual surveys (the earlier transition from record to cassette is described in the section on the 1970s). The final year that cassettes represented greater than 50% of total market sales was 2002.<ref name=apa2004>[http://www.audiopub.org/LinkedFiles/APA_Fact_Sheet.pdf Audio Publishers Association Fact Sheet] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026033037/http://www.audiopub.org/LinkedFiles/APA_Fact_Sheet.pdf |date=26 October 2010 }} (also includes some historical perspective in the 1950s by Marianne Roney)</ref> Cassettes were replaced by CDs as the dominant medium during 2003–2004. CDs reached a peak of 78% of sales in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audiopub.org/pdfs/2008%20sales%20consumer%20final.pdf |title=More Americans Are All Ears To Audiobooks |publisher=[[Audio Publishers Association]] |author=Kaitlin Friedmann |date=15 September 2008 |access-date=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053403/http://www.audiopub.org/pdfs/2008%20sales%20consumer%20final.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2015 }}</ref> then began to decline in favor of digital downloads. The 2012 survey found CDs accounted for "nearly half" of all sales meaning it was no longer the dominant medium (APA did not report the digital download figures for 2012, but in 2011 CDs accounted for 53% and digital download was 41%).<ref name=ap2012>{{cite web|title=Audiobooks Industry Showing Enormous Growth |url=http://www.audiopub.org/2013SalesSurveyPR.pdf |access-date=27 February 2014 |author=The Audio Publishers Association |date=21 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407025129/http://www.audiopub.org/2013SalesSurveyPR.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.audiopub.org/resources-industry-data.asp#12CS |title=Industry Data |publisher=[[Audio Publishers Association]] |access-date=19 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319095205/http://www.audiopub.org/resources-industry-data.asp |archive-date=19 March 2014 }}</ref> The APA estimates that audiobook sales in 2015 in digital format increased by 34% over 2014.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Another Banner Year of Robust Growth for the Audiobook Industry: Results from Audio Publishers Association Annual Sales Survey Shows 24% Increase in Audiobooks Sold |url=https://www.audiopub.org/uploads/pdf/2016-Sales-Survey-Release.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609123415/https://www.audiopub.org/uploads/pdf/2016-Sales-Survey-Release.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=9 June 2016 |publisher=Audio Publishers Association |date=23 May 2016 |access-date=12 June 2022 }} APA</ref>

The resurgence of audio storytelling is widely attributed to advances in mobile technologies such as [[smartphones]], [[tablet computer|tablets]], and multimedia entertainment systems in cars, also known as connected car platforms.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/whats-behind-the-great-podcast-renaissance.html |title=What's Behind the Great Podcast Renaissance? |date=3 October 2014 |access-date=22 July 2015 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |first=Kevin |last=Roose |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715223055/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/whats-behind-the-great-podcast-renaissance.html |archive-date=15 July 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/podcasts-are-back--and-making-money/2014/09/25/54abc628-39c9-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html |title=Podcasts are back—and making money |date=25 September 2014 |access-date=22 July 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=Cecilia |last=Kang |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723082420/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/podcasts-are-back--and-making-money/2014/09/25/54abc628-39c9-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html |archive-date=23 July 2015 }}</ref> Audio drama recordings are also now [[podcast]] over the internet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/dd2521a6-d178-11e4-86c8-00144feab7de.html |title=The resurgence of audio drama |date=27 March 2015 |access-date=22 July 2015 |work=[[Financial Times]] |first=Julius |last=Purcell |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723081433/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/dd2521a6-d178-11e4-86c8-00144feab7de.html |archive-date=23 July 2015 }}</ref>

In 2014, Bob and Debra Deyan of [[Deyan Audio]] opened the Deyan Institute of Vocal Artistry and Technology, the world's first campus and school for teaching the art and technology of audiobook production.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://audiobooker.booklistonline.com/2014/03/13/elevating-the-art-of-the-audiobook-deyan-institute-of-voice-artistry-technology/ |title=Elevating the Art of the Audiobook: Deyan Institute of Voice Artistry & Technology |work=Booklist |author=Mary Burkey |date=13 March 2014 |access-date=2 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613173042/http://audiobooker.booklistonline.com/2014/03/13/elevating-the-art-of-the-audiobook-deyan-institute-of-voice-artistry-technology/ |archive-date=13 June 2014 }}</ref>

In 2018, approximately 50,000 audiobooks were recorded in the United States with a sales growth of 20 percent year over year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Molly |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/30/portrait-of-the-voice-in-my-head/ |title=Portrait of the Voice in My Head |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=31 May 2018 }}</ref> U.S. audiobook sales in 2019 totaled 1.2 billion dollars, up 16% from the previous year. In addition to the sales increase, Edison Research's national survey of American audiobook listeners ages 18 and up found that the average number of audiobooks listened to per year increased from 6.8 in 2019 to 8.1 in 2020.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Audiobooks Continue Their Market Rise with 16% Growth in Sales: Americans Are Listening to More Audiobooks than Ever |url=https://www.audiopub.org/uploads/pdf/2020-Consumer-Survey-and-2019-Sales-Survey-Press-Release-FINAL.pdf |publisher=Audio Publishers Association |date=18 June 2020 |access-date=12 June 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230174409/https://www.audiopub.org/uploads/pdf/2020-Consumer-Survey-and-2019-Sales-Survey-Press-Release-FINAL.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>