Audible - am I missing the point?

[JingleSmell]

So I pay a monthly fee to access the mediocre stuff? Then get 1 credit per month for the decent stuff?

Long car journey coming up and I wanted to listen to some comedy things. So I could download one comedy show with my 1 credit, right?

Then I have to pay more on top of the monthly fee if I want to listen to more??

It feels a lot tbh.

Titting About is hilarious 🤣

I think also that people don’t realise that it’s really expensive to buy audiobooks in other ways. Sure you can borrow them from the library if that selection works for you. But actually buying them to keep is expensive. I’ve always listened to them and it used to be really expensive to buy big packs of cds / mp3s. They’re more expensive than normal books.

I adore the convenience as well. I get really into a series or an author and usually end up binge listening to eg 20 georgette heyers, all of The Last Kingdom series, all the James Herriot or Gerald Durrell books, big chunk of eg Jane Austen or hornblower or something. Currently on the Dorothy Dunnett series - each book is 25-30 hours of glorious listening.

Yes but audiobooks are really expensive! Some are around £40 each. £7.99 is a bargain. You get to keep the audiobook you buy, you don't have to subscribe to the service forever to be able to listen to it whenever you want. So it's more like buying a film off amazon prime video than watching one on Netflix.

I love audible. It's even cheaper than buying new books on kindle.

Ooh thank you for this! I didn't know about it. Now, where is my library card and is it still valid?

If you subscribe monthly it’s £7.99 and I think this is a pretty good fee. Plus, if you want more credits each month you can get 3 for I think £18. But, if you buy annually you get all your credits in one go, if you use them up you get much better offers for more credits. I buy 24 credits annually and once used I can buy more for £3.99 so it’s a much better deal if you buy a lot of books each year.

It's the price of audiobooks which is so illogical to many people. Why should it cost 7.99 per book to listen to one bloke forgetting which voices to use for characters in the audiobook version of Game Of Thrones when we can binge-watch a whole lavishly produced TV series in a month for the same cost?

From memory When it started it was a simple one book a month subscription - the free stuff has been added over the years.

It's a different model to say Netflix where your monthly fee allows you to access all of the content.

I also use BorrowBox the free Library app but as PP have said, it's a lot more limited and the functionality isn't as good.

Audible and the library versions (mine uses BorrowBox) are different beasts. I no longer have a subscription with audible because I have enough of a back catalogue to keep me going, and I don’t have as much time as i
used to to listen. I am also prepared to wait for those on BorrowBox to become available (for popular titles you often have to wait a couple of months to get through the queue - they only have a certain number of licences).
for anyone who isn’t sure though, it is worth trying the free library version first to give an idea of whether it’s worth paying for something like audible

I've never managed to find anything at all on Libby, apart from children's books and magazines. Maybe it's down to the libraries I'm registered with.

Borrowbox is fine though and I've noticed that you seem to borrow from the same limited pool of books whichever library you're registered with.

I find it quite frustrating to have to wait weeks for someone to 'return' something that only exists in digital form and could be provided in demand if it wasn't for licencing issues. It seems to miss the point somehow.

Thanks Talipesmum.

Audible have had the first Harry Potter book free on Alexa over Christmas and it has worked as a marketing device as DD now wants all of them (because owning all the books and all the films isn't enough).

I've had audible for years, since way before the free stuff. I have always just used it to buy one audiobook a month. 7.99 is a bargain for some audiobooks.

I also find Libby useless, it must vary depending on your library.

I have a yearly audible subscription, I basically pay for 12 credits all in one go and buy a book whenever I want. The 'included' ones are great for DC, who are currently listening to all of Jeremy strongs books about a brothers bottom (?!)

I’ve had a subscription for years too.

I choose strategically - long listens e.g wolf hall trilogy. Never anything abridged.

I often accumulate credits. They do 2 for 1 as well at times when you get two books for 1 credit.

I would suggest a podcast too to augment your journey.

I guess it’s just a totally different market. There are fewer big budget lavishly produced tv dramas than there are audiobooks. And the tv dramas make loads of money from advertising. They’re much much more popular, so cost per viewer is less. Number of people who’ve watched game of thrones vs number of people who’ve listened to all the audiobooks? Different size market.

Unless you’re happy for your audiobooks to come with interspersed adverts etc then they’re going to cost more - unless everyone refuses to buy at that price. And I think they’re getting plenty of takers.

I try and save my credits for the 2-for-1 sales.

I also use Libby, but there are very few audiobooks on it from our local library.

Why should it cost £9.99 or more for a new hardback book when it's released and you have to read the whole thing yourself?
It's a different market. Audiobooks are different to watching a TV show.

I've had a subscription to Audible for years and am a really big fan.

My credits are saved up for really good value purchases, mostly recently three volumes of Hilary Mantel's wolf hall etc series.

After an initial false step, I know to check for narrations v dramatisations and abridged v unabridged, depending on your own preferences.

Mostly I add the audible to any kindle purchases for a few more pounds. It's such a luxury to read until I'm tired and then switch to listening til I drift off to sleep. I also listen to esp comedy series over and over again, making a long car journey flash by.

You are allowed to return a book and get a credit back as long as the system doesn't pick up that you are abusing it. I only return books if I started listening and didn't like it. It's not the sort of thing you do if you liked and finished the book.

After an initial false step, I know to check for narrations v dramatisations and abridged v unabridged, depending on your own preferences.

Yes! There are some voices much more suited to narration than others. And I hate anything abridged.

Bloody love audible. Free stuff I have listened to recently include a couple of Bill Brysons, loads of Dickens, lots of John Wyndham, The Count of monte cristo, Wilkie Collins, Harlem Cobam, Arthur C Clarke - hardly mediocre stuff. Oh and Alan Partridge!

Love audible. Wouldn’t be without it. I do 24 credits. Then top ups are like £3.75 each. I love their audible plus section as well. But I also have Libby and borrow box.

if ur buying audiobook on apple as an example they can be over £10. Which is how much a book costs from a bookshop. So not sure why people are moaning about the price.
There are also some books that are audible exclusive. So if I want to listen to them I have to stay with audible. I can get through three books a week. Would be without it.

I don’t understand when people are saying they can’t find anything they like in audible…nearly all new books released are also released on there and a huge back catalogue. I get that the ‘included’ catalogue can be harder to search though.

I think it’s because more recently it’s been marketed as having all this free content, but for those of us who have always used it for the paid content (I am another one who has used it since before the included content) that’s not a draw anyway

Is 24 credits 2 per month? That sounds better for me.

You pay the fee in a lump sum and get all the credits at the same time.