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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Amazon Calls an Audible
Amazon announced yesterday that subscriptions to Amazon Music Unlimited in the U.S., UK, and Canada now include one free audiobook per month from Audible’s catalog. This is a clear move to shore up Audible’s market position against Spotify, which rose to being the #2 provider of audiobooks within just three months of introducing audiobook benefits to Spotify Premium customers late last year. I’ve been waiting to see how Amazon would respond since January, when a leaked recording of an all-hands call revealed Audible CEO Bob Carrigan’s fears about the new competitor, and I think this play can tell us a few interesting things.
This move confirms that Amazon is definitely worried that Spotify is coming to eat Audible’s lunch. As of May, six months after the audiobook launch, 25% of Spotify Premium subscribers had already engaged with its audiobook offerings, and that number can only have increased since. But they’re probably not as worried as they could be because they haven’t yet reached for the big gun: Amazon Prime subscribers. Since Amazon is notoriously stingy with its numbers, it’s impossible to know for sure, but it’s reasonable to assume that Amazon Music Unlimited is working with a meaningfully smaller user base than Amazon Prime’s nearly 200 million. If or when this benefit is extended to Prime customers, we’ll know Amazon has seen some troubling writing on the wall. Competition is good for the marketplace and good for consumers, and personally, I’m glad to see someone finally giving Audible a literal run for its money.
Out of This World Reading
Sci-fi and fantasy fans, this one’s for you. Charlie Jane Anders offers a highlight reel of the 11 best SFF books of 2024, and whatever your flavor, there’s something for you. If, like me, you’re weaker on SFF than you’d like to be, you’ll also find plenty of horizon-expanding options. I’ve had my eye on Ours since its release in February and am grateful to be reminded of it in time for my end-of-year catchup reading.
Get Your Gift On
Book lovers are notoriously hard to buy for, so we’ll take all help we can get. Vulture’s book gift guide has a nice variety of new releases and newly relevant backlist titles.
Power Ranking the Books of 1994
1994: Friends was the hot new show. Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction competed for box office supremacy. OJ Simpson was on trial. Kurt Cobain died, and Green Day launched Dookie. Oprah’s Book Club was not yet a thing. Hop in the DeLorean and join me and Jeff O’Neal for a power ranking of the books of 1994.
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