We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: audiobooks are here to stay.
From how-to guides for enjoying audiobooks and articles that dive into what makes a great audiobook, to data about the growth of audiobook sales, plus Spotify’s large investment in audiobooks, it’s clear that audiobooks are not the future, they’re the present.
At BookNet we’ve been following the evolution of this chapter of publishing for years, including the publication of research studies dedicated to exploring in-depth how Canadians use and acquire audiobooks.
Two years have passed since Press Play's release, so it’s time for us to share a new study featuring fresh data.
Say hello to Listening In: Audiobook Use in Canada 2021. In this brand new (and free!) study, you’ll find insights into audiobook acquisition, buying vs. borrowing decision making, frequency of listening, and so much more.
In the study, we’ve included published and unreleased data from our recent publications, Canadian Book Consumer Study 2021 and Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2021. The complete methodology is explained in the study.
Who’s listening and how often?
Almost half of all Canadians listened to audiobooks in 2021 (45%). But just how many audiobooks are Canadians listening to? The majority of audiobook listeners listened to 1–5 audiobooks (48%). Another 30% listened to 6–11 audiobooks, 17% listened to 12–49 audiobooks, and 6% listened to 50 or more audiobooks.
In terms of frequency, we found that 27% of Canadians listened to audiobooks a few times a year, 24% once a week, and 18% less than once a month.
Okay, we know the frequency and quantity of audiobooks listened to by Canadians in 2021, but how are they getting access to them? To buy, borrow, download for free, or pay for a subscription service, that is the question.
Buying audiobooks
According to data collected for the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2021, 19% of all Canadian book buyers bought an individual audiobook or accessed an audiobook through a subscription service in 2021.
Of these audiobook buyers and subscribers, 68% had purchased at least one audiobook on its own, while 46% had accessed their audiobook(s) through a subscription service.
How are audiobook buyers making their purchases? We found that 88% of audiobooks were bought via an online channel and 12% in person. These buyers also said they bought audiobooks at full price (35%), as part of a subscription (26%), or on sale (20%) for an average price of $13.43.
With so many retailers, online and physical stores, offering audiobooks, buyers had to make the decision of where to buy the audiobooks they wanted. But what influenced their decision? Audiobook buyers chose to shop at a particular place because of its prices (27%), selection of audiobooks (19%), subscription account or loyalty card (18%), or easy checkout process (18%).
But not all audiobook listeners buy audiobooks or subscribe to an audiobook service, some choose to borrow from their local public libraries!
Borrowing audiobooks
According to OverDrive, the world’s leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools, digital audiobook loans increased 156% between 2017 and 2021. In fact, 30% of all digital library loans in 2021 were audiobooks, up 4% from 2020.
Bringing the focus back to the data collected for the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2021, we discovered that 9% of all library loans in 2021 were audiobooks. On average, Canadian audiobook borrowers borrowed two audiobooks in a single month.
Here are some of the reasons why audiobook consumers chose to borrow instead of buy:
46% borrowed books to save money (vs. 47% of all book borrowers);
34% did not want to spend money (vs. 41% of all book borrowers); and
27% wanted to read the book but did not want to own it (vs. 34% of all book borrowers).
Other highlights
Adult Fiction titles were popular among 61% of audiobook listeners in 2021.
Juvenile titles were the least popular subject for audiobook listeners in 2021, at 9%.
Young Adult was the subject with the biggest increase of audiobook listeners in 2021. Read by 15% of audiobook listeners in 2021, the Young Adult subject category increased by 71% between 2019 and 2021.
Most Canadian audiobook listeners listened to between one and five audiobooks (48%) on their smartphone (42%) in 2021.
The average number of audiobooks purchased by Canadian book buyers in a single month was two — the maximum number of audiobooks purchased by a book buyer was 13, while most purchased only one.
Ready for more insights? Download your EPUB or PDF copy of the study here!
Sales and library circulation data of Indigenous titles during the first quarter of 2024.