New technology spurred audiobook growth with cassette tapes in the 1960s and compact discs in the 1980s.
In 1955, the Listening Library became a major distributor for recorded books. More recording companies slowly emerged, mostly to assist the blind. Initial recordings included William Shakespeare plays, The Constitution and the novel “As the Earth Turns” by Gladys Hasty Carroll. The following year, Congress passed an amendment that allowed the Library of Congress to begin producing audiobooks. Each side held about 15 minutes of speech. On the anniversary of the device, the PBS NewsHour looks at back at the history of audiobooks, how they’re different from reading on the page, and where they’re headed next.Īudiobooks first emerged in 1932 with the establishment of a recording studio by The American Foundation for the Blind, which created recordings of books on vinyl records. More than 67 million Americans now listen to audiobooks annually, according to the Audio Publisher’s Association. Today, readers can listen to hundreds of hours on their smartphones and choose from more than 35,000 books published each year on dozens of applications and devices.
It cost $200 and could only hold about two hours of audio. Twenty years ago, Amazon’s Audible released the first portable audio player designed specifically for listening to audiobooks.
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