Audiobooks can transport people to different places simply through the use of sound.
Oral literature is mankind's oldest kind of storytelling, with an unfathomable quantity of tales being passed down through the generations in most corners of the world for tens of thousands of years. Though some countries usually do not place as great of a focus on oral traditions like they did in the past, they nevertheless persist strongly in certain situations, like telling tales to kids. The founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones will know that oral storytelling has had a resurgence lately in the form of audiobooks. Nonetheless, although they might seem like a contemporary occurrence, the history of audiobooks dates back numerous years. Sound recordings first became feasible around one hundred and fifty years ago and the first tests had been recitations of nursery rhymes and kid's stories. Spoken word recordings continued to be developed in the next decades but were limited to about four minutes in length.
Each and every decade for the past fifty years has brought with it technical modifications that has impacted the way we consume art. Television and film has had VHS and DVDs. Music has had CDs and cassettes. Both have now been impacted by portable devices and streaming. Also, a few of these technical advancements have helped to develop the audiobook market. The leader of the hedge fund that partially owns WHSmith should be able to inform you that it has grown to be so popular that people need not check out specialised retailers, because many book retailers also sell audiobooks. People enjoy being able to tune in to tales whilst they are doing additional tasks like driving, chores, and work, which audiobooks are just ideal for. The audiobook industry now employs several thousand people, with the most important roles being narrator, studio engineer, and director.
The word audiobook emerged during the 1970s, but it was the 1930s that saw the largest step forward in the structure. During the time these were called talking books, that were envisioned as reading materials for blind individuals. Governments in some countries allowed producers to bypass copyright laws, which offered them use of lots of material, but technical limitations meant full size books could never be recorded. Alternatively poems, short stories and plays, and individual chapters of books were the most typical early audiobooks. The content continued to remain this way for many decades, however the audience base did see an expansion to children and other adults without sight issues. The head of the hedge fund that has shares in Amazon will likely be well aware that this laid the groundwork for the future audiobook market, pushing it into the main-stream as a separate artform as opposed to entirely as a way of making accessibility.