Storytel. Spotify. Now Audible. Audio, Text, and the Physical Book Slowly Converge
Audible, Spotify, and Storytel are collapsing the boundaries between audio and text. What it means for rights, royalties, AI — and the reader who never reads.
Feb 19, 2026 | Audiobooks, Digital Audio, ebook subscription services, Print, USA
Audible, Spotify, and Storytel are collapsing the boundaries between audio and text. What it means for rights, royalties, AI — and the reader who never reads.
by Mark Williams | Feb 27, 2026 | AI, Education Publishing | 0 |
Pearson reports 4% sales growth to £3.6bn and 6% profit rise to £614m for 2025, appoints Sky’s Simon Robson as CFO, and accelerates AI integration across education services.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 27, 2026 | AI, Arab publishing, MENA publishing, Middle East, Sharjah | 0 |
Sharjah’s Onshur fund receives 94 AI and digital technology submissions from 17 countries for Arab publishing industry transformation, with Egypt and UAE leading participation.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 27, 2026 | Barnes & Noble, Retailer News, UK, USA, Waterstone's | 0 |
Elliott Management advances plans for multibillion-pound IPO of Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, with London listing favoured and bank appointments expected early 2026.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 27, 2026 | Digital Audio, MENA publishing, Middle East, Saudi Arabia | 0 |
SAJJEL 2 podcast competition launches in Saudi Arabia with Anghami and LPTC partnership, offering SAR 90,000 prizes and professional production training for emerging creators.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 26, 2026 | Book Fairs, India, South Asia | 0 |
Registration is now open for the 54th New Delhi World Book Fair, running 16–24 January 2027 at Bharat Mandapam, following a record-breaking 2026 edition.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 26, 2026 | France | 0 |
ActuaLitté and Books.fr announce a strategic partnership to strengthen independent book media through shared infrastructure while preserving editorial autonomy.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 26, 2026 | Audiobooks, Digital Audio, Spotify | 0 |
Spotify launches weekly Audiobook Charts in the US and UK, offering genre-specific rankings to boost discoverability for publishers and authors.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 25, 2026 | Audiobooks, Digital Audio, Film & TV, IP Rights | 0 |
RBmedia’s catalogue underlies three 2026 Oscar-nominated films. But did audiobooks inspire the adaptations? And what does its PE ownership story tell us about publishing?
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 25, 2026 | Finland, Retailer News, Scandinavia, Sweden | 0 |
Adlibris appoints Bonnier Books CEO Håkan Rudels as chairman, completing acquisition of Finnish bookstore chain Akademen as part of Nordic omnichannel expansion strategy.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 23, 2026 | Book Fairs, S.E. Asia, Vietnam | 0 |
Ho Chi Minh City launches 16th Tet Book Street Festival across three locations, featuring 20+ publishers, AI-integrated books, rare Đồ paper editions, and cultural industry exhibitions.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 23, 2026 | AI, Publishing Controversies | 0 |
AI is the publishing industry’s latest scapegoat. But UK author incomes collapsed long before ChatGPT existed. The real villains are hiding in plain sight.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 23, 2026 | Bangladesh, South Asia | 0 |
The Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2026 is rescheduled again. With fees waived and Ramadan conflicts, we examine the “unmitigated disaster” facing Bangladesh’s publishers.
Read MoreJapan boosts content industry budget to ¥35bn, targeting ¥20tn overseas sales by 2033. New policies address piracy, AI translation and creator working conditions amid global competition.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Caribbean, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago | 0 |
CXC mandates accessible formats in publisher contracts as Caribbean nations implement Marrakesh Treaty. Trinidad leads; Jamaica follows.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Comics, Manga | 0 |
A Pokémon card and a Superman comic have shattered collectibles records, with sales of $16.5m and $15m — what does this mean for the publishing industry?
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Africa, Angola, Awards, Children's Books | 0 |
Angolan publisher Kacimbo Kiela shortlisted for 2026 Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publishers. Second consecutive nomination for Ondjaki’s Luanda-based house.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Arab publishing, IP Rights, MENA publishing, Middle East, Saudi Arabia | 0 |
Saudi Arabia’s new Copyright Law introduces key reforms, including AI exceptions and stricter enforcement, impacting publishers and rights holders in the region’s growing creative industry.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Africa, Book Fairs, India, Rwanda | 0 |
A Rwandan publisher’s firsthand account from Chennai International Book Fair reveals why African literature remains invisible—and what Tamil publishers got right.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Audible, Audiobooks, Digital Audio, Digital subscription | 0 |
What the 2026 Parix Audio Day tells publishers about AI narration, platform access, market development, and why hesitation is the riskiest strategy of all.
Read Moreby Mark Williams | Feb 22, 2026 | Book Fairs, India | 0 |
The Guardian’s elitist critique of Indian lit fests ignores that UK festivals like Hay also trade books for pizza and music. A shameful double standard.
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