Deezer launches audiobook channel in Austria with an editorially maintained service of audiobooks and radio plays. Last year, the streaming service started in Germany with Audiobooks by Deezer, a standalone app for audiobooks, as well as a curated audiobook offering in the Netherlands.
From bestsellers to novelties to non-fiction books, crime novels and radio plays, audiobook fans can now browse through more than 15 different genres and categories in the new channel. Among them are editorial recommendations with local references, such as the 2020 Austrian Book Prize-winning novel ‘Geschichten mit Marianne’ (Stories with Marianne) by Xaver Bayer and the non-fiction book ‘Sisi, Sex und Semmelknödel – Ein Araber ergründet die österreichische Seele’ by the Syrian author Omar Khir Alanam, who lives in Graz.
Non-fiction books are particularly popular with Austrian Deezer users, followed by crime novels and thrillers as well as science fiction and heartbreak literature. For example, the most streamed audiobook at the moment is the nonfiction classic ‘Menschen lesen’ (People Reading) by former FBI agent Joe Navarro. Simon Beckett’s thriller ‘Die ewigen Toten’ (The Eternal Dead) is at the front of the crime novels. With Susan Mallery, Katja Krasavice and Sibylle Berg, only three female authors are currently in the top 10 most popular audiobooks.
If you have found your favourite audiobook, you can add it to your favourites using the heart symbol. The Sleep Timer function in the Deezer app also makes it possible to stop content with one click at a selected desired time. So you can leave relaxed without the audiobook or radio play running all night. Deezer Premium users can also download audiobooks and radio plays and listen in offline mode to save their data.
On the launch of the new channel, Jessica Gösken, Audiobook & Podcast Manager at Deezer, says, “In the last 12 months, we have seen double-digit, percentage growth in the number of daily active users of audiobooks and radio plays in Austria. We are all the more pleased to be able to offer our listeners in Austria an editorially maintained audiobook experience with the new channel.”
The new audiobook channel is available for all paid subscription plans as well as for Deezer Free users. You can access the channel in the mobile app via the ‘Music Tab’ and the ‘Shows Tab’, in the browser view by tapping ‘Discover’ or via the following link deezer.com/channels/audiobooks.
