The sound of success: Record sales at Audible

Britons’ new-found love of audiobooks led to record sales last year at Audible.

Turnover at the UK division of the Amazon-owned podcast, drama and audiobook business rose 6 per cent to £226 million as it signed up new listeners.

Audiobooks, which are often more expensive than traditional paper ones, were a huge hit during Covid lockdowns, when readers spent more time at home.

But unlike many pandemic trends, it has not yet faded away.

Audible offers monthly subscriptions for customers, as well as sales of single books.

But while turnover jumped, the company’s profit slid to £14.8 million last year from £19.4 million previously, as it invested in new content, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

Audible produces its own podcasts and original series hosted by the likes of former First Lady Michelle Obama, actors Daisy May Cooper and Stephen Fry.

Last year it launched series of TV presenter Graham Norton’s podcast, The Graham Norton Book Club, and Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders’ show T*tting About.

Audible was set up in 1997 in New Jersey and was snapped up by Amazon in a deal worth around £250 million in 2008.

Britons bought around 27 million audiobooks last year, according to industry tracker Nielsen BookData. Self-help and sci-fi titles were particularly popular.

Growth has slowed post pandemic but there were still around 50 per cent more audiobooks sold last year than in 2018.