The audiobook fracas offers a glimpse into the challenges developers face as they try to introduce new features. Since making an antitrust complaint against Apple in Europe in 2019, Spotify has urged regulators and lawmakers to give app developers the freedom to tell customers about ways to purchase products and services outside of Apple’s payment system, which many apps are required to use.
If AI narrators become something readers commonly accept and enjoy, it could increase the leverage Apple and other tech companies have over publishers and authors who want as many people as possible to see or hear their work.Spotify views the conflict over audiobooks as another example of how Apple impedes competition and hampers rivals. However, as with so many AI applications lately, this development raises questions about what might happen to human narrators working in the business-as well as concerns over who benefits most. One potential upside of this development is the availability of audiobooks for publications and authors that might not have had a budget for audio versions. But even as some independent publishers and self-published authors have thrived, audiobooks have mostly been a market for major publishers and, yes, tech platforms. Google and Amazon-also major purveyors of both ebooks and audiobooks-have publicly talked about this possibility before.Īudiobooks are a huge business their sales and popularity have skyrocketed in recent years. Apple probably won't be the only company to do it, either.
But this is likely just the start of Apple's effort, and more may be added later.
Some publishers agreed, and others didn't. According to The Guardian, Apple reached out to independent book publishers over the past several months and told them it would front the cost of the digital recordings but pay authors royalties on sales.
0 kommentar(er)
