Presented by Carlo Carrenho on June 25, 2026, at the By the Book 11 conference at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, this presentation identifies seven audiobook trends drawn from recent international publishing news.
Artificial-intelligence narration is improving and becoming more widely used, although AI-generated audiobooks still represent a very small portion of sales. At the same time, services such as ElevenReader suggest that dynamically generated audio could eventually challenge the audiobook’s existence as a separate downloadable file.
Publishers and retailers are also experimenting with physical-digital products, listening booths and children’s audio devices such as Tonies and Yoto. Other developments include industry consolidation, continued Nordic growth and the arrival of Spotify’s audiobook offering in additional markets.
Together, these developments show audio evolving beyond a single publishing format into a broader listening ecosystem involving AI, streaming, physical products, global platforms and new consumer habits.
Download the presentation here.
