Audiobook Month
Listen to your favorite book or discover new ones in audio format during Audiobook Month. Try taking walks, doing chores, or just lying back and listening.
Drive audiobook platform subscriptions and discovery during June by positioning audio content as the perfect companion for summer routines and multitasking lifestyles.
- Summer reading reimagined: audiobooks for commutes, workouts, and chores
- Discover your next favorite narrator—exclusive June deals on audiobook platforms
- From Edison's vision to your ears: celebrate the history and future of audiobooks
- Audiobook bingo challenge: listen to a new genre this June
Almost from the moment that a method of recording the human voice became available, audiobooks have been in existence. When Thomas Edison first invented the phonograph, Phonographic Books were one of the ideas that he had in mind for those who were sight-impaired. Even his first words spoke of this vision, with “Mary had a little lamb” being the first words he spoke into a phonograph. A year later he demonstrated the capacity of the phonograph at the Royal Institution in Britain, where a recorded verse of Tennyson’s poetry was played back for the attendees.
Unfortunately, his original vision wasn’t to be, as the original cylinders used with the phonograph only held about 4 minutes of audio, and even when they switched to the flat platters the duration was only 12 minutes, hardly sufficient for the recording of long chapter books. While the 60-minute cassette developed in the 70’s helped the situation, it wasn’t until the invention of the CD that Audiobooks really came into their own. Audiobook Month celebrates these wonderful tales on tape and the millions of people they aid every year.