ElevenLabs lets authors now create and publish audiobooks using its platform
The announcement comes days after the company partnered with Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks. The announcement comes days after the company partnered with Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks.
ElevenLabs, which raised a $180 million mega-round last month, started inviting authors to try out their publishing program through their app on a trial basis last year, TechCrunch previously spotted. The program is now open to all writers as of today. Image Credits: Eleven Labs
The firm confirmed the news to TechCrunch and explained that the goal was to make audiobooks more affordable, accessible, and available to everyone. This would have cost much higher to produce in studios. The platform itself aims at competing with Audible which ElevenLabs feels offers lower royalties for authors. ElevenLabs will offer its audiobooks within its Reader app, and will pay the authors for every time users interact with their content.
Currently, it pays roughly $1.10 to authors when listeners engage with an audiobook for 11 minutes or more.
ElevenLabs said the average user spent 19 minutes listening to the published books on its app during the testing phase. The startup believes that the rates it offers are the best in industry. However, as the program grows, these rates could change. Later, it aims to extend payouts to titles in the 32 languages it supports for audiobooks.
The company also plans to create a marketplace where authors can sell their content. ElevenLabs’ biggest opportunity is to have authors and publishers create audiobooks with its AI technology. Its paid plans range from $11 up to $330 per monthly. It is cheaper than paying for studio time or voice actors. ElevenLabs is already used by other audio platforms such as Pocket FM and Kuku FM for converting text to audio content. The company’s decision to become a platform for publishing and distributing indie content aligns with ElevenLabs’ CEO Mati Staniszewski’s plan to expand to more consumer experiences.
