Italians’ passion for audiobooks continues to grow in 2024: 11.1 million people have let themselves be involved by stories and great voices on headphones. In the last year, 400 thousand more people listened to an audiobook, almost half a million Italians, marking an increase of +4% compared to 2023.
Since the pandemic boom, audiobooks have definitively become part of Italians’ listening habits. The ranks of listeners have constantly expanded year on year, from 2020 to today a double-digit increase of 22% is estimated. This is what we learn from the latest NielsenIQ research for Audible (Amazon company) which will be presented in a round table on Saturday 11 May 2024 as part of the Turin Book Fair.
It’s not just audiobook listeners that are growing, in 2024 the time that Italians dedicate to listening will also increase. An average session reaches almost half an hour, with over 27 minutes dedicated to the voices of literature in headphones. But if it is true that monthly listening decreases, listening on a weekly basis increases significantly. 31% of the sample interviewed states that they listen to an audiobook at least once a week. The “heavy users”, those who listen every day or almost every day, remain stable at 5%.
Those who listen to audiobooks on headphones
The NielsenIQ research gives us a fairly homogeneous picture by gender, age and geographical location of the Italians who listen to audiobooks, however the most assiduous are men, young (age group 25-34 years), very connected (over 4 hours a day spent on the internet), and mostly coming from the regions of Southern Italy.
Furthermore, audiobooks are a passion that is passed down from generation to generation and can be excellent travel and adventure companions even for the little ones. 36% of the parents interviewed have children who listen to audiobooks, and of these 54% were introduced to listening by their parents.
Where you listen to audiobooks
The place chosen by Italians for listening to audiobooks will remain their home in 2024 (70% of those interviewed), however the percentage of those who use them when commuting, whether in the car, on public transport, increases to 47%. public or walking. The preferred language for listening is mainly Italian (98%), followed by English, with a slight decline, and Spanish.
Listening to books on headphones is an activity that arises from the desire to relax (45%), to escape from everyday life (30%), and for the majority of those interviewed, it also appears to be a valid way to entertain themselves while doing other things (57%), combat “screen fatigue” (53%) and avoid boredom (51%). Audiobooks are also irreplaceable allies against stress (48%) and loneliness (46%) and facilitate socialisation. For 39% of the sample taken into consideration by the research they are a valid tool for breaking the ice and starting a conversation. While 37% already consider it a topic of conversation with their circle of friends.
The voices, therefore, as great life companions, amplifiers of emotions, images, tools capable of bringing to life, like reading, the all-round literary experience. For this reason, listeners prefer the voices of professional narrators (62%) or actors (42%), and the majority prefer the more intimate, one-on-one listening experience made possible by the narration of a single voice (55 %) rather than multiple items (45%).
Books and audiobooks
The research highlights a great complementarity between listening and reading books: 47% of Italians in the sample have listened to a book they have already read, just as almost as many (45%) declare they have read a book they have already listened to. Putting on headphones and pressing play is then, for 59% of the sample, a valid way to enjoy more books at times when it is impossible to dedicate oneself to reading and for 32% an important tool for letting oneself be transported into other stories when one has hands and eyes busy with something else.
Choosing an audiobook
The theme, the narrator and the author are the most important factors in choosing the next title to listen to. Italians inform themselves and discover new audio content especially through social media and the internet, or through word of mouth from friends, acquaintances and family. The importance and authority attributed to the sites of publishers and distributors is growing, 43% of them are valid allies for discovering new things to listen to on headphones.
As for genres, the most loved in 2024 are thrillers, albeit slightly, over classics, followed by sci-fi/fantasy titles. It is no coincidence that among the most loved titles of all time on Audible there are literary classics such as Murder Out of Season, the Count of Monte Cristo but also fantasy sagas such as Harry Potter, which from year to year make people fall in love – or fall in love again – listeners thanks to the power of the voice.
Audible growth in Italy
Since the launch of the service Audible in Italy, which occurred 8 years ago, the company invested in the creation and licensing of Italian language content, of which 5.5 million euros in 2023, including 1.4 million euros for the production of Audible Originals podcasts.
This has allowed us to enrich the catalog with a growth of 4% compared to last year, and a total of 82,000 contents currently available on Audible.it, of which more than 16,000 in Italian, many of which exclusively thanks to the collaboration of Audible with Italian publishing houses.
At this moment Audible (affiliate link) is running an offer which includes a subscription cost of €2.95 per month for 4 months.
