Audio Boom
Although there is a crisis in the publishing sector, audiobooks are on the rise. The audiobook market is increasing by 20% a year. It seems that Polish people have finally got into audiobooks. According to a Nexto.pl report the value of the market has increased to nearly PLN 20 million over the past twelve months which is surprising when we take into account the stagnation on the publishing market caused by the economic crisis. There are about 1,450 works currently available and 25 new ones each month. “This sector is developing slowly but surely and it is already profitable,” according to Błażej Roszkowski, chairman of NetPress Digital. Noteworthy is the fact that major publishing houses such as Znak, Prószyński, Muza, Media Rodzinna, and Świat Książki have decided to begin creating audiobooks and join audiobook market leaders such as, Biblioteka Akustyczna, Aleksandria, Propaganda, and MTJ.
There are even special internet shops in which we can purchase audiobooks, like Audiobook.pl, Audioteka.pl, and DoSluchania.pl. Nowadays, it is more common that the premiers of ‘regular’ books are accompanied by an audiobook release. This was the case with “Margot” by Michał Witkowski, the Polish translation of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J.K. Rowling and the biography “Kapuściński non-fiction” by Artur Domosławski, read by Jerzy Radziwiłłowicz. Well-known Polish actors Jan Englert, Jerzy and Maciej Stuhr, Gustaw Holoubek, Krystyna Janda and Zbigniew Zapasiewicz have all recorded books for listening. Top actors may make as much as PLN 50,000, although, on average voice actors can expect to make approximately PLN 10,000 for the recording of a 300-page book. Beginners might earn about PLN 2,000. Publishers have even established an award with Zbigniew Zapasiewicz’s interpretation of the Polish translation of Stephen King’s “Cell” winning the Best Spoken Award during the recent Warsaw Book Fair. Experts maintain that audiobooks have become popular thanks to the development of new technology.
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna
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