Streaming company Storytel has signed a deal to acquire Audiobooks.com from owner KKR for $135m, extending its reach into the English language audio market

Asked about whether Audiobooks.com would move to a streaming model, Tellander insisted it was “way too early” to say and the site would operate under its current models for now.

Interesting. Between this, the recent news that Spotify is entering the audiobook market, and the introduction of Audible Premium Plus last year (which offers streaming of a limited selection of audiobooks), I wonder if the audiobook market is about to phase out the credit model and plunge into on-demand streaming.

People have been speculating about “Netflix for audiobooks” for years, and there are interesting pros/cons to the idea. Hopefully the credit model will stick around as an alternate plan for those who prefer it. Above all, whatever happens, I hope the streaming and publishing companies don’t strike a deal that ends up screwing over authors, narrators, editors, etc. though.

Glad to see the market is starting to make moves against the Audible hegemony! Still, I don't really fancy using Spotify for audiobooks either, much as I refuse to use them for podcasts. Can't wait for my homepage to be full of extra rows of books I might like in addition to podcasts I won't listen to.

My current model for audiobook listenership is piracy, but only of books I have already purchased and read. Depending how the landscape starts to shift in the next few years, I might jump on a streaming service to 'read' more. As a musician, I know how pitiful the income from streaming can be, so I think it'll be worth checking which services offer authors and narrators (to name but two in the legions in charge of audiobooks) the best returns.