ElevenLabs, a voice AI firm, has announced that authors can now publish AI-generated audiobooks directly through its Reader app, as confirmed by the company to TechCrunch. This update follows the recent partnership with Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks.
Last month, ElevenLabs secured a substantial $180 million funding round and has been inviting authors to experiment with its publishing program via the app on a trial basis since last year, as reported previously by TechCrunch. As of today, this program is officially available to all authors.
The company elaborated on this development, emphasizing its goal of providing affordable and easily accessible tools for audiobook production, which can often be prohibitively expensive when using traditional studio systems.
The platform intends to rival Audible, which ElevenLabs believes offers less favorable royalty terms for authors. Under its new model, audiobooks produced by ElevenLabs will be accessible through its Reader app, and authors will be compensated based on user interactions with their content.
Currently, authors earn approximately $1.10 when listeners engage with an audiobook for 11 minutes or longer.
During the testing phase, ElevenLabs noted that the average time users spent listening to published audiobooks on the app was around 19 minutes. The company believes that these engagement rates are competitive within the industry, though they may fluctuate as the program expands.
Initially, the payout system is available to authors in the U.S. and applies exclusively to English-language titles. Future plans involve extending this payout mechanism to audiobooks in the 32 languages supported by the platform.
Additionally, the company is looking to establish a marketplace that allows authors to sell their creations.
A significant opportunity for ElevenLabs lies in enabling authors and publishers to generate audiobooks using its AI technology via subscription plans, which range from $11 to $330 monthly—significantly more cost-effective than traditional studio time and voice actor fees.
Importantly, ElevenLabs has previously provided AI capabilities to audio platforms like Pocket FM and Kuku FM, transforming text into audio content successfully.
This initiative to evolve into a publishing and distribution platform for indie work aligns seamlessly with CEO Mati Staniszewski’s vision to broaden consumer experience offerings.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
Watch more about AI – Artificial Intelligence
