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McNab tackles audiobooks

15.04.08

Random House UK is teaming with GoSpoken, a service backed by bestselling SAS thriller writer Andy McNab, to launch a new service that allows customers to download audiobooks via their mobile phones.

Fifty RHG audiobooks are now available to purchase and download, including six McNab titles. Other authors available on the service include Chris Ryan, John Grisham, Karin Slaughter, Thomas Harris, James Patterson and Sebastian Faulks. The full length audiobooks will be priced between £7 and £8.50 and be available through www.gospoken.com.

McNab, a partner in GoSpoken parent Spoken Entertainnment, said his company invested in the site after seeing "the power of downloads" when a couple of his own titles became bestsellers on iTunes. He added: "It is early days for mobile downloads, but we see an enthusiam about it, particularly with the next generation. The download speeds are now there, but equally importantly we have sorted out an easy way for customers to access and pay for the audiobooks."

Though compatible with 2.5G and 3G phones, the service is designed mainly for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) mobiles, which have surfing speeds similar to broadband. Currently about 4% of UK mobiles are HSDPA, but GoSpoken predicts usage will reach about 40% by the end of 2009. It says a three-hour audiobook can be downloaded in four minutes on phones using HSDPA technology.

All UK networks are now offering this technology, along with tariffs that allow unlimited broadband access to the mobile internet for around £7 a month. Most media players on mobile phones will allow users to remember where they were in an audiobook, and pause automatically when the handset is needed for other uses.

Rebecca Snook, marketing manager for GoSpoken parent Spoken Group, said: "HSDPA usage is currently fairly low, but all the mobile companies will be pushing it in the next year. This broadband for your phone will revolutionise the audiobooks market."

According to Audiobook Publishing Association research, downloads now represent just over 10% of the UK's £72m audiobooks market.

Andy McNab Random House audiobooks GoSpoken

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