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cover of episode Karl Berglund, "Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

Karl Berglund, "Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

2025/3/13
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Carl Berglund: 我研究了有声书的兴起及其对阅读模式和出版业的影响。我的研究基于Storytel提供的用户数据,涵盖了汇总级别和个人级别的信息,这使得我能够深入分析用户的阅读习惯。研究发现,有声书的消费模式与传统阅读模式存在差异,它既与印刷书籍和电子书竞争,也与播客等其他音频媒体竞争。有声书中最受欢迎的类型是容易消化的虚构作品,例如犯罪小说、浪漫小说和奇幻小说,而文学小说和更具声望的小说则不那么受欢迎。这与印刷书籍的声望转移到有声书格式的不足有关,以及有声书的收听场景通常伴随着其他活动,例如通勤、做家务等,导致听众对叙事结构的要求有所不同。 我的研究还发现,出版商的盈利模式也发生了变化,他们按流媒体播放分钟数付费,而不是按书籍销售数量付费,这使得他们需要确保读者坚持到最后。这将对叙事结构产生长期影响,例如,为了保持读者的兴趣,出版商可能会更多地使用悬念等技巧。此外,流媒体平台的算法推荐系统对人们的选择有很大影响,它会根据用户的阅读历史和相似读者的阅读习惯进行推荐,平台自身也会推出自己的作品,这会影响人们的阅读选择。 我还对有声书的读者进行了类型划分,发现读者类型并非单一,而是存在多种类型的读者,例如“交换者”类型的读者会尝试很多书,但只完成其中的一小部分;还有一些读者会在平台上花费大量时间,但只收听少量书籍,并且会反复收听相同的书籍,他们可能将有声书用于放松或转移注意力,而不是为了欣赏叙事。 最后,我还探讨了合成语音技术对有声书出版的影响。合成语音技术会降低有声书的制作成本,并可能改变人们对同一本书的文化体验,因为如果每个人都可以选择自己喜欢的讲述者,那么对同一本书的文化体验将会发生改变。

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The book explores the rise of audiobooks, particularly in Sweden where two-thirds of books consumed were streamed audiobooks. Berglund highlights the need for literary scholars and those interested in reading to discuss audiobooks' impact on the publishing industry.
  • Two-thirds of books consumed in Sweden were streamed audiobooks.
  • Audiobooks are taking over the publishing industry.
  • Literary scholars need to discuss audiobooks more extensively.

Shownotes Transcript

What is the future of reading? In Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Digital Age) (Bloombury, 2024), Karl Berglund), Assistant Professor in Literature at Department of Literature and Rhetoric) at Upsala University, examines the rise of audiobooks as a new mode of reading books. The analysis draws on digital humanities methods and a detailed industry case study to show who are the readers of audiobooks, how those readers engage and consume books, what sort of genres are most popular, and crucially how all of this us impacting on the publishing industry. The research also picks up on important themes of continuity and change represented by audiobooks, from ongoing issues of inequalities through to the new forms of writing practice and AI generated narrators. A richly detailed but easily accessible text, the book is essential reading for scholars across academia, as well as anyone interested in reading!

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