Newsletter 23rd of June: 2.3 million Nordic Households Subscribe to an Audiobook Streaming Service

NEWSLETTER

23 June 2021

Summer is here and we are rapidly approaching vacation time in the Nordics. Emails and zoom meetings will soon be replaced by ice-cream and maybe a good book in a comfortable deck chair. And many of us will likely listen to the book, as the growth for audiobook services has been strong over the last years.

Mediavision’s new analysis of the Nordic audiobook market shows that 2.3 million Nordic households subscribe to an audiobook streaming service. Since spring of last year, this means an additional +250’ subscribing households. Growth in the region is mainly driven by Finland and Norway – both with significant penetration growth year-on-year. Denmark and Sweden remain stable and there are clear signs of maturity. Storytel announced today that the company will strengthen its position as a distributor, producer, and publisher in Finland with the acquisition of Finnish publisher Aula & Co. Storytel is already the owner of the third largest publisher in Finland, Gummerus, since 2019.

Looking at specific services, pan-Nordic services Bookbeat and Nextory added the most subscribers in absolute figures. When it comes to listening, daily reach among 15–74-year-olds amount to 10%. Let us guess that audio book listening will peak during the summer months!

Average household spend among audiobook service subscribers is similar across the Nordic countries, explained by equal price points established by the pan-Nordic services. Interestingly, a high share of audio book subscribers also subscribes to a music streaming service. This is something that Storytel and Spotify likely seek to exploit in their recently announced partnership.

From all of us to all of you: Have a beautiful summer and hope to see you in August!

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