The Quebec audiobook market, which has been booming for several years, is seeing its momentum slow. More and more local readers are turning up, but funding and profitability are lacking, making production less attractive for many publishing houses.
Statistics show that this format, which consists of the interpretation of a work written by one or more narrators, is gaining popularity in Quebec, as elsewhere on the planet.
Within the public library network, audiobook loans have seen a steady increase since 2019, from 20,000 to around 250,000 in 2023 on the Prêtnumérique platform. For the current year, loans reached nearly 200,000 as of 1er August, according to figures from Bibliopresto, the organization that oversees digital resources for libraries.
The technology development firm De Marque, distributor of digital works published by Quebec and French-Canadian publishers, reports revenue growth of nearly 150% for audio books from 2020 to 2023.
She mentions that 60% of revenues come from institutional purchases. The remaining 40% comes from the general public, of which almost a third of sales take place on subscription platforms.
So far in 2024, the audio format represents just over 6% of digital book sales in the province, De Marque says.
This data does not include Amazon’s Audible platform, which has a significant market share.
During the same period, Quebec production also showed growth, thanks to financial support from Canadian Heritage. But this one-off assistance ended last year. As a result, the supply has been weakened with publishing houses deciding to ease off.
“We have produced perhaps around 2,000 titles in French by our local authors in Quebec. But over the past year, there has really been a decline in production due to lack of funding,” notes Joanie Tremblay, co-founder of Narra, recognized as the first platform dedicated to Quebec audiobooks.
She also observes this decline through the Bulldog studio, which offers narration recording services and for which she holds the position of general manager.
“Publishers want to move forward,” says M.me Tremblay: But with funding lacking and consumption still relatively low, it is becoming more difficult for them to produce it, she explains.
Far from profitability
Alto Editions are among those who have stopped experimenting with the audio format for the time being after a dozen productions. “To this day, I am miles and miles away from profitability,” says the founding president and director of the publishing company, Antoine Tanguay.
He gives the example of the book Not even the sound of a river by Hélène Dorion. The novel sold several thousand copies upon its release, while the audio format, released later, sold 84 times.
“There is a huge gap in audiobook sales,” Tanguay says.
Conversely, the publishing group La courteéchelle has decided to continue the experiment even though the federal government’s program has not been renewed. During the fall, it will publish five new titles.
“This is the first time we’ve done so many. Usually, we do one or two per season,” emphasizes sales director Marianne Dalpé.
Even though “production costs are currently enormous compared to sales figures,” La courte échelle sees the audio format as a long-term investment that is part of a global trend, says Ms. Dalpé.
“We look at what’s happening on the planet, and right now, we (Quebec) are pretty much the only ones where it hasn’t exploded yet,” she says. “But we can feel it right now, Audible is very aggressive in terms of content requests, promotions. They have the global figures, so they’re able to see what’s happening elsewhere. I think they saw that there was a huge market to develop here.”
Call for better support for audiobooks
Mme Tremblay and Narra’s second co-founder, Sandra Felteau, recently petitioned the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications for better support for audiobooks. They submitted a brief to the government last March.
In the long term, they want a change at the legislative level to recognize the audio book and for it to benefit from the same sources of funding as the paper book.
In the short term, the two women propose to create a round table with publishers, authors, producers and booksellers, then to release an emergency envelope for production.
Mme Tremblay also points out the presence of big players as a brake on production, “who do not necessarily redistribute revenues fairly in Quebec.”
For his part, Mr. Tanguay believes that the Quebec audiobook could benefit from better visibility in order to develop an audience and ensure a certain profitability. According to the publisher, the readership “is still too timid.”
“Maybe we should do audiobook reviews,” he suggests. “To say, we listened to the audio version of this book. And I mean the version. It’s not a read clone, it’s the interpretation of a book. There’s something different about the audio experience compared to the paper one.”
Artificial intelligence, an avenue?
The narration of an audiobook is often entrusted to an actor or actress. Could these human voices be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) in order to reduce production costs?
Mr. Tanguay participated in June in the audiobook meetings in Strasbourg where the use of AI was discussed in particular. He mentions that several producers have decided to turn to these technologies. And “the results are quite astonishing” in terms of quality, he observes.
“Artificial intelligence by definition feeds on voice banks, and improves at high speed. […] “It may just be a matter of time before we have a natural voice,” says Tanguay.
Joanie Tremblay still has reservations about the quality of the interpretation and the play with the AI.
“I’m not keen on the idea because there is still a craftsmanship involved in producing an audiobook. […] For the moment, I don’t think that artificial intelligence is capable of giving the result that we have with a real human who embodies these books,” maintains Joanie Tremblay.
Monetarily, the savings would remain minimal, as narration does not represent the largest expenditure item in production, says Marianne Dalpé of La courte échelle. But it is above all on an ethical level that the publishing group refuses to touch AI.
“We work with creators. I would have a very, very hard time doing business with artificial intelligence for narration when it’s something that was produced by local creators,” says M.me Dalpe.