Can digital audio books find a place in bookstores? In France, 13% of the population listened to at least one audio book, physical or digital, in 2023, according to the 13e edition of the SOFIA/SNE/SGDL Barometer on the uses of printed, digital and audio books. “Audiobook growth has slowed since the Covid boom, but the market is still becoming more significant”retrace Cécile Palusinskipresident of the Plume de Paon association, which has been working to promote audio books since 2009. More significant, without exploding however. And with a certain delay compared to Germany, Scandinavia, or Great Britain.
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Too early or too late?
“Since we launched in 2019, the audiobook market is supposed to explode. However, it only represents 2 to 3% of the publishing market in France, compared to 8 to 10% in Germany. underlines Fabrice Fontaineco-founder of Lislemoi, a publisher who invented a bookmark with QR code allowing the purchase of digital audio books. But this system, deployed in consignment sales since April 2023 in five brands in Eure-et-Loir, has not met with the expected success. “We may arrive too early or too late. What booksellers tell us is that they sell too few audio books for it to be interesting for them to manage that.”indicates the entrepreneur, who remains open to the idea of developing his technology with other players.
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Lislemoi is not the only one wanting to make the bookstore a key player in this market. At the end of 2023, Staytuned, a company specializing in the distribution of audio content, created the Prose platform. This offers digital audio books in the form of purchase per act or monthly subscription (at 9.99 euros), placing the independent bookstore at the heart of the offer.
“One in two books is sold in bookstores in France: booksellers have arguments to put forward against Amazon, including on audio books”pleads Charles-André Touréco-founder of Staytuned. A bold bet at a time when the platforms of Gafam and major cultural brands are already well established in the French digital audiobook market, also invested since October 2024 by Spotify. Subscribers to the Swedish platform's premium service now have access, at no extra charge, to twelve hours of listening to audio books per month.
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Disappointing start
As for subscriptions, favored by 68% of audiobook listeners, time credit seems to be becoming more widespread among the giants of the sector. A model that Prose does not apply at the moment. On the French platform, the user can choose a favorite bookstore among the 200 partners then, for each of their purchases, between 10% and 15% of the amount is donated to their reference business. Staytuned has also developed around ten white label audio platforms for the bookstores Mollat, La Procure, Ombres blanche, Eyrolles, and Smith&Son. Since its launch last year, “a few thousand subscriptions” were subscribed. To increase this figure, the company is focusing in particular on a physical presence in stores by providing bookstores with gift card displays.
“The big challenge is to promote this product which remains very secondary to the paper book and to make space, for example for these displays, to the detriment of other things that we sometimes sell better,” observe Thomas Jobbé-Duvalby La Procure. In October 2024, the brand had just under 200 subscriptions. “It’s below what we could have hoped for at the beginning”agrees the general director, however determined to continue to promote the format.
“This market is very complex to launch, and it’s not for lack of highlighting it: 70% of my favorite publications on social networks contain an audio extract”comments for his part Julia Lagoardettemanager of La Librairie Délicieuse, bookstore-café in Villandraut (Gironde). Partner of Prose, this audiobook enthusiast still encounters an almost knee-jerk rejection of the medium, too often “confused with the digital book”.
Yet, “There are no technical problems with formats that can exist with digital books. There is ease of access and listening”underlines Thomas Jobbé-Duval. In terms of prices, purchasing a digital audio book individually is equivalent to purchasing a large format, while purchasing a title via subscription costs the price of a pocket.
Time credit and story box
Weighty arguments that booksellers don't always have the time to put forward. “It’s a real job to win over your audience with audio books, even though its profitability is not exceptional for the bookseller”relieves Robin Schultzresponsible for developing ePagine, the digital branch of Tite Live. The company already allows more than a thousand bookstores to sell audio books, notably via an affiliation system with the ePagine portal, or via its own sites created on behalf of bookstores. “The audiobook segment is in continuous development for us”says Robin Schulz. In 2020, it represents 2.6% of digital turnover, 3% in 2021, 4.5% in 2022 and 6.5% in 2023. “The trend continues into 2024”he assures.
Moreover, in 2025, ePagine will also launch an audiobook subscription offer. “We would like to offer the classic subscription, and the time credit”, advertisement Robin Schulz. “The time credit is very close to what the bookseller wants to offer since there is the right to make mistakes, it allows you to flit between books, to check that you like the voice of the narrator. But in the projections, it is only profitable for the reseller when the user does not consume all of this credit”he further specifies.
For all audiences
At Staytuned, the new feature is a story box specially designed for seniors, isolated people and those with disabilities, available for pre-order on Ulule since November 2024. “For this target, CD support is no longer possible because it is destined to disappear, but the use of the smartphone is not very suitable”explains Charles-André Touré.
However, the elderly or disabled public is not the only target of the digital audio book. Listeners in fact have a younger and more masculine profile than that of listeners of physical audio books and readers of printed books. Another target… the booksellers themselves, for whom it can constitute a working tool. « It helps me discover new thingsuvelles readings: I listen to them when I empty boxes, in the car, before going to bed »says Julia Lagoardette. It remains to raise awareness among booksellers, perhaps from their training. “To date, we only very rarely integrate audiobooks into our course, noted Lauriane Le Dûsfrom The Bookstore School. We plan to integrate it from next year.hain. »
