At the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray shared his insights on the future of audiobooks and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the publishing industry. Murray praised Spotify's entry into the audiobook market, citing its successful strategy and potential for growth.

According to Murray, audiobooks continue to outsell e-books in terms of total revenues, helping to offset declines in e-book sales. He highlighted Spotify's entry into the market as a key factor in this growth, noting that the streaming service's 15 hours of free listening with a Premium subscription has been a successful strategy. This approach allows users to sample audiobooks without committing to a full subscription, making it an attractive option for occasional listeners.

Murray also discussed the wholesale distribution deal between HarperCollins and Spotify, which involves paying the publisher on a consumption basis. This model is more direct than the streaming music model, where a percentage of subscription revenue goes into a pool before being paid out to artists. The publisher can provide authors with exact royalty figures for audiobooks under this model.

Despite the success of Spotify's audiobook entry, Murray acknowledged that there is still room for growth. He mentioned that the company is working to resolve a "technical problem" with family plans, which currently limits audiobook streaming to the credit card holder. Spotify has clarified that it is testing the expansion of audiobooks across family plans in some markets, with no technical issue to resolve.

Turning to the topic of AI, Murray expressed both excitement and concern about its potential impact on the publishing industry. While he believes that higher-quality content will ultimately prevail, he worries about the risks associated with IP-based businesses founded on copyright. The proliferation of lower-quality content generated by AI could compete for consumers' time and attention, potentially harming publishers and authors.

However, Murray also sees opportunities for AI to improve the publishing industry. Internally, AI could enhance areas such as marketing and selling, with dozens of initiatives already underway at HarperCollins to realize productivity improvements. AI could also enable the creation of audiobooks for smaller markets, where it was previously not cost-effective. Additionally, AI-assisted book translations could expand revenue opportunities.

Looking further ahead, Murray envisions AI helping to turn books into films. By using AI to generate movie or television scripts from manuscripts, publishers could speed up the development process and provide clearer concepts to professionals in the film and television industry.

In conclusion, Murray's comments highlight the ongoing evolution of the publishing industry, driven by the growth of audiobooks and the increasing influence of AI. As the industry continues to adapt to these changes, publishers, authors, and consumers alike will be watching with interest to see how these developments shape the future of storytelling.