OverDrive to Provide Streaming Audiobooks to Libraries and Schools

Library and School Catalogs to Enable Instant Access to Spoken Word Audio

June is Audiobook Month, and leading digital distributor OverDrive announced today that it will update its popular audiobook download services to include new options for readers to instantly “See Book—Hear Book.” Scheduled for launch later this year, streaming audiobooks will be available on a wide range of Internet-connected devices, including smartphones, tablets and computers. This instant-access technology will eliminate long downloads before listening to popular audiobooks from libraries and schools throughout the OverDrive network. The “Listen Now” option will complement the download options already in use with the millions of installed OverDrive Media Console apps on Windows®, Mac®, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, Windows® Phone and BlackBerry®.

 

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OverDrive will demonstrate streaming audiobooks as part of its next-generation platform at the American Library Association's 2012 Annual Conference (Booth 1362) in Anaheim, Calif., June 21-26.

OverDrive will incorporate the streaming option into the free OverDrive Media Console apps, enabling readers to access complete audiobooks or to immediately sample excerpts without first downloading the title. This new feature will complement the current download options, which allow readers to transfer titles to a variety of iPod and MP3 audio devices or burn to CD. Streaming audiobooks will add value to every library’s audiobook collection while still enforcing copyright and supporting permitted lending models. Access to each streaming audiobook will expire at the end of the borrowing period.

Streaming audiobook samples will also be available to patrons and students inside the library with the recently announced OverDrive Media Station. OverDrive Media Station enables in-library access to digital content on touchscreen monitors and public Internet workstations. To see a preview of OverDrive Media Station, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsIEZG3fLU8.

To further celebrate Audiobook Month, OverDrive is offering schools and libraries deep discounts on thousands of best-selling audiobooks in June, including 50-percent markdowns on thousands of titles from Blackstone Audiobooks and Tantor Media. With an industry-leading catalog of more than 800,000 eBooks and audiobooks, OverDrive provides digital distribution services for more than 18,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide with support for Windows®, Mac®, iPhone®, iPad®, Kindle® (U.S. only), Sony® Reader, NOOK™, Android™, Windows® Phone and BlackBerry®. To find a bookseller or library in the OverDrive network, visit search.overdrive.com.
(Bookbusinessmag.com, June 14, 2012)