The Audible move
Audible yesterday announced a new subscription plan – “Standard”. This proposal aims to give consumers what they want—cheaper choices. Their new plan is only $8.95 a month. That’s $6 dollars less than their current “Premium” plan, which costs $14.95/month. Spotify just increased its subscription prices, marking its third price hike in three years. This action further complicates the financial picture for its 281 million premium subscribers.
Cynthia Chu, Audible’s chief financial and growth officer, said the company is definitely aware of the growing appetite for audiobooks. She emphasized their desire to make sure more people can easily access these audio stories. The introduction of the Standard plan has made that goal harder to achieve. Over half of Spotify’s premium subscribers have taken the plunge into audiobooks. This level of engagement really speaks to the strong market for this type of content.
Aisha Malik, consumer news reporter at TechCrunch, focused on the importance of this historic development in her coverage. Malik holds an honors bachelor’s degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of Toronto. He then pursued and achieved a graduate degree in journalism at Western University. In the time since joining TechCrunch in 2021, she’s led coverage of big industry trends, as well as important consumer news. Before joining TechCrunch, she cut her teeth as a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup.
Malik may be reached by email at aisha@techcrunch.com or by encrypted message on Signal at aisha_malik. Her reflections on the subscription landscape provide some useful analysis. They raise questions about how Audible’s new plan would impact consumer choices in a highly competitive market.
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