New Formats Drove Audio Sales in 2006
by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 8/24/2007 7:48:00 AM
Sales of audiobook publishers increased 6% in 2006, to $923 million, according to the latest industry sales survey conducted by the Audio Publishers Association. The survey found that consumers continue to migrate to the CD and downloadable formats while leaving cassettes behind. CD sales accounted for 77% of sales ($710 million) in 2006, up from 74% in the prior year, while digital downloads accounted for 14% of sales compared to 9% in 2005. Cassette sales represented only 7% of sales, down from 16%.
The library market continues to be the largest sales channel for audiobooks, representing 32% of sales ($295 million) last year, followed by general retail at 30%. Sales through wholesalers accounted for 15% of sales, while downloads represented 10%.
Adults are far and away the largest consumers of audiobooks, accounting for 87% of all purchases. The survey also found that fiction titles represented 69% of all sales.
The APA survey includes sales reports from 30 publishers combined with estimated sales of non-reporting companies. The results differ dramatically from AAP’s audio estimates which found sales off 11.7% in 2006, to $182.2 million. The AAP uses sales reports from 12 reporting companies as the basis for its estimates.
