Archive.org isn’t just a treasure-trove of old-time radio drama, apparently, there are other great classics to appreciate like this one Radio Directing from Earle McGill who was a superstar of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Mr. McGill was a well-known directory, producer, and casting director for their Radio Workshop among other projects.
More signs that the Rise of Audio is on its way. Canada’s Booknet Press posted some interesting stats and trends. From the article:
More than half, or 61%, of Canadian publishers are now producing digital audiobooks, which is up from 37% in 2016, according to a new report from BookNet Canada. Increasing production may be related to the confidence felt by firms, with 73% believing audiobook sales will increase in the coming year.
Publishers across Canada were surveyed in early 2018 for the fifth annual The State of Digital Publishing in Canada 2017 report, which tracks trends in the country’s digital publishing landscape. Respondents ranged from large multinationals and Canadian-owned firms to smaller, niche publishers, all of whom answered questions about ebook sales, use of accessibility features, digital revenue, and more.
Among the other highlights of the report was a drop in the percentage of ebooks available in the market that went unsold. Though methodology changed slightly between 2016 and 2017, the survey found that 30% of ebooks had no sales in 2017, versus 46% in 2016. Meanwhile, 69% of publishers reported that their year-over-year digital sales were either growing slowly or staying flat. According to BookNet’s quarterly consumer surveying, unit sales of ebooks have fluctuated over the past three years, accounting for 19% of book purchases in 2015, 16.9% in 2016, and 18.6% in 2017.
Time to pull out the microphone and get in on the act, if you haven’t already!
A recent study from UCL in association with Audible has discovered something interesting- however maybe something we audiophiles already knew. Audio Books are more engaging emotionally to people than watching film or television. But, we already know that audio can be the most intimate of mediums. If you’re wearing your headphones or earbuds, a good audio performance is the closest thing to your own thoughts.
But, don’t just take our word chatter on it, read the original article from The Guardian and considering how audio plays are more immediate, just ponder on just how much more engaging audio drama is compared to audio books!
If you grew up in the seventies or eighties, you couldn’t avoid the iconic presence of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars. Many post modernist reviews of perhaps the first modern blockbuster series in movie history dwell on the dearth of women in the original trilogy. The fact was, it would have been hard to share screen time with Fisher who commanded the screen despite her inexperience beside veteran actors Harrison Ford and Sir Alec Guinness.
Princess Leia was, perhaps, for many kids growing up the first truly strong female character who was also a sex symbol solidifying the understanding that women were as capable as men in driving the story and holding their own.
She died today, ostensibly from a heart attack that occurred a few days previously. The world mourns her loss, but not just as Princess Leia, but as a powerfully established novelist and screenwriter. Her book Postcards from the Edge became a hit movie of its own, and her battles with addiction and depression echo the human struggle. A struggle that has now sadly ended.
I’m going to go for a walk and listen to The Princess Diarist, something I’ve put off for far too long. And while she’s not featured in it, I’m going to relisten to The NPR Star Wars because I’ll always see Princess Leia- my princess- when I’m hearing the series. Just as I would watching it.
May the Force be with you… all.
Using the illusionary trick of two microphones to create a surround sound playback, Mills & Boon intend to take their romance novels into the audiobook world. We’ve long lamented in the Sonic Society that while there’s no end to speculative fiction, horror and mystery shows (and we’re fans of all those), there aren’t a whole lot of new romance audio dramas out there. It’s our eclectic nature that wants to hear every genre in the sonic rainbow.
So maybe someone can take a cue from Mills & Boon and as this Telegraph article suggests mine the rich resources of ready-to-listen housebound lovelornaphiles (okay maybe that wasn’t a word but it is now! TM)
Amazon.com just added a new perk to its Prime program.
Prime subscribers in the U.S. will now enjoy unlimited free access to a new short-form digital audio service from Audible Inc. called Audible Channels. Subscribers also will get a rotating selection of more than 50 audiobooks from Audible’s catalog.
Audible describes itself as “the world’s largest provider of expertly performed audiobooks.” Amazon owns the company.
Audible says its Audible Channels service allows subscribers to “listen to original audio series from an award-winning team whose mission is to take listeners to new places.” Audible Channels also offers “playlists handcrafted for every interest.” According to Amazon:
Audible Channels features a consistently refreshed, thoughtfully organized selection of original programs, distinctive comedy, lectures, and audio editions of standout articles and news from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Affairs, Charlie Rose, McSweeney’s, The Onion, and other leading periodicals.
Audible Channels is normally available with the purchase of a monthly subscription, but is now free to Amazon Prime members. They can access Audible Channels for Prime by downloading the Audible app for Apple iOS, Android and Windows 10 devices.
In addition to Audible Channels, Prime members will now be able to stream a rotating selection of Audible’s audiobooks, which include:
- Top-rated audiobooks across a range of genres.
- Celebrity-narrated classics.
- Shared listening experiences for the family.
Prime is Amazon’s subscription service. Other subscriber benefits include:
Free two-day shipping with no required purchase minimum
Free video streaming, including movies and TV series
Free unlimited music streaming
Free unlimited photo storage
Free access to more than 800,000 e-books
So if you love Audio Books and Audio Series of all kinds, here’s another opportunity!
It may sound a little bizarre to all of us at the Sonic Society, but Ki Sung at KQED News finished an article entitled Listening Isn’t Cheating: How Audio Books Can Help Us Learn.
I remember reading some time back an experiment that had hooked up an MRI to various participants. Those who read a book had a lot of “magic” happening in the brain as readers need to envision settings, characters, sights, and sounds. However, Audio Drama works the brain even more, as a single sound may be the only cue a listener gets in which to build a world. Audio books sort of bridge the two mediums.
However you slice it, audio is good for the brain.
Oh, and television? You guessed it. Leaves the cranium with a cold whistling sound in comparison.
The Witch Hunter Chronicles was a triumphant Audio Epics fantasy radio drama series from Domien De Groot and Eline Hoskens (the dynamic duo of modern audio fantasy production). With original music from Peter Van Reit, Witch Hunter is back- and this time as an audio novel. This thirteen hour long legendary audio is a must buy for any lover of Tolkienesque fantasy. Buy Witch Hunter the Audiobook today and receive a tremendous new release price!
Hot on the heels (or is that feels) of our Sonic Speaks interview with Steven Jay Cohen, we have another great link to share. Steven’s incredibly detailed: Audiobooks in the Classroom: A Field Guide!
I know this time around I’m going to be paying attention to this “finely tuned” wisdom as I get my students to listen to some great literature. A must for all educators and learners alike!
Robert Montenegro muses in the BigThink Blog that maybe Audio Books are really the next step to bringing back Audio Drama. He notes that from a piece in NPR, that something big is coming down the pipeline with the audioverse. While this may not be such big news for the Society, we’re all excited that it’s starting to look like many others are catching up!
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