By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
“Nine in ten customers already using the feature told us reading while listening improves their retention and comprehension.”
As the audio market continues to grow, publishers and audio companies are doing more to learn how and when listeners engage with audiobooks to better serve that audience.
Barbara Knabe, Audible, Parix Audio Day 2026; Photo credit: © PARIX_Audio_Day_FGSR
Audible commissioned a survey which Barbara Knabe, Head of Content Acquisition for the EU, presented at Parix Audio Day in Madrid last month which explored not only when respondents listened to audio content but also how audiobooks fit into their larger reading life.
As previously reported, Knabe shared that 80% of listeners also read print books, 68% read more digital/print books since starting to listen to audiobooks, and an average 60% said they purchased the physical book after listening to the audio.
While some may think of audiobooks as a separate, distinct market, there is some data to support the idea that audiobooks are just another format to many readers and, in some cases, the reading and listening experience may even overlap in a popular, not-so-new trend immersion reading.
It is with that idea in mind that Audible rolled out their “Read & Listen” feature in the Audible app, making it easier for listener-readers to engage with the audio and text simultaneously. This feature allows customers to switch from “Listen” to “Read & Listen” where they can follow the synchronized, highlighted text while listening along to the audiobook narration.
Unlike Whispersync, which allows customers who own the audiobook and the ebook to toggle between the Audible and Kindle apps, picking up where they left off in each separate app, this functionality is contained within just the Audible app. However, the reader must still purchase both the ebook and the audiobook in order for that functionality to be available.
“Nine in ten customers already using the feature told us reading while listening improves their retention and comprehension. Our data shows these customers are often avid readers with high book consumption rates,” says Andy Tsao, Chief Product Officer at Audible. “The option of immersion reading gives them more flexibility in how they consume content. Expanding access to this feature will help additional customers access this benefit and is part of a broader vision to meet book lovers wherever they are.”
The move to create this feature came from another survey Audible conducted recently of US spoken-word listeners who read and listen simultaneously. Of those surveyed, 91% agreed that reading while listening improves cognitive retention and comprehension.
What may be of interest to publishers hoping to grow their audiobooks in the international market is that 89% of respondents agreed that immersion reading helps them see and hear how words and names are written and pronounced.
Audible noted that they are seeing the “Read & Listen” feature becoming especially valuable for language learners and students.
That engagement paired with Knabe’s data point that 90% of European listeners prefer content in their local language illustrates an opportunity for publishers who create an audiobook for their local listeners to find a potential market for not only their audiobooks but also ebooks outside the country.
While publishers in many markets may not see the benefit of investing in producing audiobooks, a potential growing market in those languages might provide ample reasoning to do a test case.
Currently in the “Read & Listen” library there are hundreds of thousands of titles available, including titles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The feature is currently available in the US, with UK, Australia, and Germany to follow later this year.