Inside Audible

Audible Says Cheers to a Decade in Aussies’ Ears

Karen Appathurai-Wiggins, Head of Regional Content for Audible, APAC, and Marc Fennell, award-winning creator, at the anniversary celebration.
Karen Appathurai-Wiggins, Head of Regional Content for Audible, APAC, and Marc Fennell, award-winning creator, at the anniversary celebration.

For 10 years, Audible has been sparking Australian imaginations through the power of audio storytelling. Australians have opened their hearts and their ears, welcoming Audible into their homes, their commutes and their moments of “me-time.” According to the 2024 Audible Compass Survey, an annual survey conducted by Verian and commissioned by Audible, 89% of Australian listeners report that audiobooks allow them to fit more books into their busy lives.

Audible works with leading publishers, authors and performers to reinvent audio storytelling and rapidly expand quality content available in audio. Since the launch of our service for Australia in 2014, our catalog there has grown by double digits each year, and now includes more than 800,000 audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.

As our content offering in Australia has expanded, so has the passion shown by our Australian customers, whose listening hours have grown more than 20% each year since the service’s launch. The most popular audiobook genres on Audible’s Australian service are self-development; science fiction and fantasy; general fiction; mystery, thriller and suspense; and romance.

“It’s been incredible to witness the explosion and demand for premium audio storytelling in Australia as consumers increasingly look for efficient ways to integrate entertainment and education into their daily lives,” says Ben Rolleston, Audible’s country manager for Australia. “We’re proud to be the pioneer and innovator in this space, and we are passionate about expanding what’s possible in audio entertainment.”

Join the celebrations and hear from Audible creators and employees about what audio storytelling means to them.

Since launching our Audible Originals program in Australia in 2019, we have released 135 Australian Audible Originals, investing in and amplifying diverse Australian voices and stories. Australian Audible Originals including The Greatest Menace by Patrick Abboud, Nut Jobs by Marc Fennell, Pillow Talk by Laura Nagy, First Eat by Nakkia Lui and The Missed by Sami Shah, have collectively been celebrated with 35 prestigious local and international awards from 70 nominations.

“Sparking our listeners’ imaginations starts by making Audible a home for creators,” says Karen Appathurai-Wiggins, Head of Regional Content for Audible, APAC. “It’s a huge source of pride to invest in the Australian creative community, and Audible remains committed to sharing important local stories that amplify Australian voices to our global listening audience.”

She continues, “Some stories are just best told in audio. At Audible we understand the intimacy and power of the listening experience, and together with Australia’s best writers, voices and creatives, we look forward to continuing to entertain, inspire and inform our listeners through outstanding and genre-defining audio storytelling.”

To celebrate a decade of listening, Audible’s editors for Australia have curated the best 100 era-defining listens of the past 10 years, including Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape, and It Burns by Marc Fennell.

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