Audiobook- the Paradigm of the Portuguese Publishing Market

Initially, the audiobook was not a product to be marketed, being produced only for libraries, in order to allow access to information for the blind. In 2005, with the appearance of the first specialized audiobook, publishers in Portugal, the audiobooks began to be produced in order to be commercialized. The audiobook market in Portugal is small, having only 2 companies: Boca palavras que alimentam e a Companhia Nacional de Música . The Portuguese companies have very low sales volumes; which do not exceed a hundred thousand euros. The paper presents the business and production models of audiobooks in USA and proposes their adaptation to Portugal. In order to obtain the degree of acceptance of this format among the Portuguese society, two recordings of a book by a renowned Portuguese writer were made. The two records were made according to a set of technical requirements in order to ensure the quality of the audiobook. The two recordings were evaluated through a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire are presented and analysed. From the analysis of the questionnaire, it seems that the Portuguese market of audiobooks has yet to be explored. It also seems that it worth the effort because Portuguese community is very open to new technologies and easily uses the internet market. Anyhow, it seems that some marketing campaigns are needed in order to change the actual preference of the printed book face to the virtual version.