As usual, this April 23rd is also celebrated World Book Day. But today more than ever the book takes on increasingly innovative forms. For example, Italians’ passion for wines is growing more and more audiobooks: in 2024 they are well 11.1 million the people who dedicated themselves to listening to stories and voices on headphones. This was revealed by NielsenIQ research on the use of audiobooks in Italy, commissioned by Audible, Amazon’s company dedicated to audio entertainment. According to this survey, in the last year 400 thousand more people listened to an audiobook, almost half a million Italians, marking a increase of +4% compared to 2023. And the time dedicated to listening is also growing, with an average session that comes close to touching almost half an hour (over 27 minutes on average).
But who listens to audiobooks? There photography of listeners in our country it is rather homogeneous in terms of gender, age and geographical location, even if the most frequent are young men (age range 25-34 years), very connected (over 4 hours a day spent on the internet) and mostly coming from from the regions of Southern Italy. This passion is also transmitted from generation to generation: 36% of parents interviewed have children who listen to audiobooks, and of these 54% were introduced to listening by their parents. 70% of those interviewed listen to audio products in homebut increases the percentage (47%) of those who use it in moments of commuting.
You shouldn’t think of audiobooks as something that supplants traditional books, indeed there is a great deal between the two complementarity: 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 a valid way for 59% of the sample enjoy more books at times when it is impossible to dedicate yourself to reading and for 32% an important tool for letting yourself be transported into other stories when you have your hands and eyes busy with something else. The most loved genres in 2024 are thriller who win, even if only slightly, over classicsfollowed by titles sci-fi/fantasy. It is no coincidence that on Audible among the most loved titles of all time there are literary classics such as Murder out of seasonThe Count of Monte Cristo but also fantasy sagas like that of Harry Potter.
This whole phenomenon will be discussed on May 11, 2024, as part of the Turin Book Fair, with a round table involving Matthew Gain, Senior Vice President and Head of Europe at Audible; Juan Baixeras, Country Manager Spain & Italy at Audible; Giorgio Pedrazzini, Senior Consultant NielsenIQ; and Cristina Mussinelli of the Italian Publishers Association.
Tags: Audiobooks Italians love
