The Spoken World
THE SPOKEN WORLD brings you the latest global audiobook news, trends and insights. If you’re in the publishing or audio industry, this podcast is a must-listen. Every other week our host Christopher Kenneally interviews industry leaders, providing insights about global audiobook opportunities, innovations and challenges. What’s new in production, distribution and marketing? Where are the best worldwide opportunities for growth? We’ll also bring you highlights from major international book and audio conferences. Contact spokenworldpodcast@gmail.com or visit spokenworld.media.
Episodes
When people listen to audiobooks instead of reading books in print or digital, does reading itself win or lose?
Duncan Bruce, Director of Audiobook Partnerships and Licensing at Spotify, is helping shape how millions of people discover stories through audiobooks. He tells Christopher Kenneally that innovations like PageMatch, which lets readers move seamlessly between page and audio, and Spotify’s new partnership with Boo...
Adam Fritz, CEO of Pozotron, and Robin Lai with John Marshall Media, tell Christopher Kenneally why audiobook production requires an alignment of AI tools and human expertise.
With publishers facing intense financial pressure in audiobook production, they say, AI-assisted workflows will help to hold down costs and reduce turnaround times.
And when producers automate pre-production tasks, they free up time for creative human wor...
Audible’s ambitious new “Audible Story House” in New York City’s lower Manhattan is a three-floor “bookless bookstore” that offers a glimpse into the future of audiobook discovery.
James Finn, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Brand and Content Marketing, tells Christopher Kenneally that the month-long “pop-up” in the Bowery invites visitors to browse “story tiles,” ...
Recent innovations by audio platform Spotify are makinglistening and reading more appealing to new audiences.
At the Parix Audio Day Conference in Madrid earlier thisyear, Spotify executive Duncan Bruce explained how these new tools redefine engagement with books and audiobooks throughout the day.
The success of audiobooks with consumers has already been transformative for bottom lines across the publishing industry. Next, authors, publishers and readers alike can expect to see audiobooks influence the strategic direction of the global book business.
That’s the takeaway from a pair of keynote presentations at the 2026 Parix Audio Day conference in Madrid.
Survey data challenges a long-standing industry myth that au...
As audiobook providers expand into new markets, they confront a basic challenge: Building audio catalogs with strong appeal worldwide.
At the 2026 Parix Audio Day in Madrid, Christopher Kenneally asked three European publishers and an African-wide platform provider about their global development strategies. They spoke about business models and language investment; battles over rights and licensing; and the role of AI in production, ...
On Monday, March 30, 2026, 500 attendees for the Audio Publishers Association virtual conference learned about top audiobook industry topics including consumer listening trends; prospects for multicast and other expanded audio formats; and whether diversity in stories and voices remains a goal.
The Spoken World’s Christopher Kenneally reports that APA Executive Director Jim Dinegar asked a keynote panel, “Who gets a voic...
On March 12, 2026, at the London Book Fair, Christopher Kenneally, host of The Spoken World, moderated “The Great Audiobook Debate.”
The growing popularity of audiobooks compels all stakeholders in publishing to ask, “What does it mean to be a reader?”
Speakers included Marc Boutet, President and co-founder of De Marque; Javier Celaya, Founder & CEO, Dosdoce.com; Luis González, Director General, GSR F...
The Spoken World podcast is embarking on a new season for 2026.
Every other Thursday, Season 2 of The Spoken World will feature interviews with top industry figures and analysts from markets around the world sharing insights on the opportunities, challenges, and innovations coming to the audiobook industry, the fastest-growing segment of book publishing.
In this episode, in Madrid, Luis González, Managing Director o...
In the closing days of 2025, Christopher Kenneally, host of The Spoken World, reviews our coverage of the global audiobook industry throughout the year. The Spoken World debuted in March at the London Book Fair. In our first season, we featured interviews and panel presentations from the US Book Show in New York; the Frankfurt Book Fair; and the Parix Audio Day Conference in Madrid.
In 2025, the global audiobook industry saw exciting changes in audiences, products, and markets. The US remains the sales leader with double-digit annual growth, while demand is rising around the world for new languages and new catalog offerings.
To close out 2025, Christopher Kenneally spoke with leading audiobooks industry analyst Javier Caleya, founder of dosdoce.com, for his review of the year’s top stories in audiobo...
The French like a good laugh; Italians love adventure; and Germans want to know whodunit.
Those are key findings of the Audible Compass, an annual review of listening habits commissioned last July by the world’s largest audiobook retailer.
Audible’s Barbara Knabe tells Christopher Kenneally that mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, and romance are all popular across the European Union.
Market differences in individual countries,...
Three audiobook leaders from across Europe shared a stage on the opening day of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 to discuss the latest data and trends in listener behavior as well as the opportunities for publishers to grow readership through the audiobook format.
The European audiobook market is growing rapidly, with millions of new listeners discovering the format every year. Looking beyond consumer engagement with high-quality conten...
As we complete Season 1 of The Spoken World, host Christopher Kenneally reflects on our global coverage of audiobook events at London Book Fair, PARIX Audio Day and the US Book Show. We look forward to the launch of Season 2 this Fall with our coverage of Frankfurt Book Fair.
Check out this infographic that wraps-up our Season 1.
As demand for high-quality audio content grows, Publishers Weekly’s Ed Nawotka asks a US Book Show panel how audiobook publishers are adapting strategies to keep up. Featuring Audible, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and more.
Which public institution has more branches than McDonald’s restaurants or Starbucks coffee shops? Your local library. At Parix Audio Day in Madrid, Johanna Briton with Overdrive tells Arantza Larrauri of De Marque how libraries spur growth for audiobooks because they expand awareness and opportunities for discovery.
Children’s content is an important and growing segment of global audio publishing. In Madrid at Parix Audio Day 2025, Juliana Ruedo spoke with Kiyeun Baek from Yoto, and Stephanie Simonin of Bayard Audio, about their approaches to innovative audiobook production and content development for kids and teens.
A Multilingual World Tour of Audiobooks is a panel discussion moderated by Nathan Hull, Beat Technology, with guests Videl Bar-kar, Bookwire (Germany); Carlo Carrenho (Nordic countries); Liza Faja, Editis (France); and Raúl Pérez, Grupo Planeta (Spain). Recorded in Madrid at Parix Audio Day, 2025.
RBmedia International managing director Miles Stevens-Hoare tells Mariana Féged, Bookwire general manager, why a push into non-English markets, such as Spanish and French, has played well with audiences around the world in a conversation recorded in Madrid at Parix Audio Day, 2025.
How can publishers build bridges to connect listeners across multiple formats? In his Parix Audio Day 2025 keynote presentation, Tom Webster with Sounds Profitable suggests ways that podcasting monetization models might be transferable to the audiobook market.A 25-year audio research veteran, Tom Webster has been a co-author and driver behind some of audio’s most influential studies, including the Infinite Dial® series;...
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