Jan 29, 2021
Helped by big gains in downloadable audio sales, overall sales of audiobooks posted eight consecutive years of double-digit increases through 2019, according to the Audio Publishers Association’s annual sales survey (conducted by independent research firm InterQ). And 2020 looks like it will have a similarly sunny result. In its monthly StatShot report, the Association of American Publishers said sales of downloadable audio from trade publishers were up 15.2% through the first 11 months of the year over the same period in 2019, offsetting declines in the much smaller physical audio market. Downloadable audio found more of a home at independent bookstores last year, with Libro.fm reporting that the number of units sold through indies in 2020 jumped by 200% over 2019.