Amazon Offers Cheaper Audible Monthly Subscription

Amazon has introduced a low-cost version of Audible, which calls itself the world’s largest collection of audio books.

For $7.95 per month, Audible Plus costs about half the price of its original Audible subscription package.

In its Monday (Aug. 24) announcement, Audible said Audible Plus offers members a bigger selection and unlimited access to a catalog that includes more than 68,000 hours of content and 11,000 titles spanning documentaries, comedy, journalism, kids, podcasts, wellness, self-development, theater and more.

Programs from Audible Plus, now in its preview phase, can be streamed or downloaded for listening offline, the announcement said. In addition to the Audible app, the Plus catalog will also be available on Alexa-enabled devices and Amazon Fire tablets.

The new offering joins Audible’s premium subscription option, now called Audible Premium Plus. For $14.95, members get access to the Plus catalog. As a bonus, subscribers will get one credit a month which can be used for content outside the Plus catalog, regardless of price or length.

“New Audible Originals come from a wide range of talent including Common, St. Vincent, Blake Griffin, Jesse Eisenberg, Tom Morello, Kevin Bacon, David Koepp, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Mara, Tayari Jones and Harvey Fierstein, among many other celebrated creators and performers,” Audible said on its website. “The content slate will continue to grow alongside various technical enhancements over the coming months.”

New customers interested in signing up to preview Audible Plus can do so beginning Thursday (Aug. 27).

Last week, PYMNTS, in collaboration with Recurly, the San Francisco-based recurring billing software company, reported its findings in the Subscription Commerce Conversion Index: The Evolving Subscription Marketplace.

Researchers found a widening gap between leading subscription providers and the rest of the pack. Middle Performers, which comprise 76 percent of the sample in the Index, saw their scores drop to 63.2 in the second quarter (Q2) of last year, from 63.5 in first quarter (Q1), continuing a two-year downward trend.

Meanwhile, the top 20 providers improved their scores, earning 82.8 in Q2 2019, up from 80.3 in Q1.

The quarterly assessment of more than 160 businesses is based on 47 key features including registration time, billing and product reviews. The most recent edition offers insights from a survey of more than 2,100 consumers, with a focus on attitudes toward digital media and streaming services.