An Overview of the Audiobook Marketplace in Spain

Abstract

The general objective of this research is to analyze, through a descriptive methodology, the impact that audiobooks have on internal processes in the value chain of Spanish publishers. To this are added two more specific objectives related to answer the following questions: (a) how to include the agents of the audiobook in the publishing circuit?, and (b) is this new business model consolidated within the Spanish publishing sector? Through the analysis of the publishing circuit and the production flow chart, it is possible to observe not only the impact of the audiobook on the entire operational process of a publisher but the new actors in the publishing business scene. Based on the existing data on the audiobook business in Spain, the study concludes that today, the Spanish publishing sector has recently begun to perceive the economic potential of this sound format. The confinement by COVID-19 has led to a collateral effect on the production, marketing, and consumption of audiobooks, driven by the two large publishing groups that dominate the book market in Spain.