By way of background, Overdrive Media is a company that provides publishers, enterprises, libraries, schools and retailers with a “back end” that allows them to manage, protect, lend or sell digital audiobooks, e-books, music and videos. According to their website HarperCollins, Random House and McGraw-Hill are among their commercial customers, along with many large and small libraries round the US. Thus, their statistics are an interesting touchstone for the e-book community.
According to a press release they sent me:
— 5,500 iPod®-, Mac®-, and iPhone™-compatible MP3 audiobooks made available to libraries for the first time
— 4.2 billion minutes of digital spoken word audio delivered in 2008 (equivalent to 47 million audio CDs)
— 237 million website pages viewed by library patrons for download media (76 percent growth over 2007)
— Patron sessions exceeded 30 million (63 percent growth over 2007)
— Number of new users increased by 45 percent over 2007
— Over 1.5 million new installs of OverDrive Media Console for Windows and Mac (bringing total to 3.5 million)
— The OverDrive digital catalog grew to 150,000 titles with the addition of 50,000 eBooks, 10,000 audiobooks, and 5,000 music and video titlesMost Downloaded Library Audiobooks (2008)
1. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer
2. “The Appeal” by John Grisham
3. “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer
4. “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer
5. “7th Heaven” by James Patterson
6. “1st to Die” by James Patterson
7. “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama
8. “24 Hours” by Greg Iles
9. “Blood Brothers” by Nora Roberts
10. “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman
Most Downloaded Library eBooks (2008)
1. “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer
2. “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer
3. “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer
4. “Devil in Winter” by Lisa Kleypas
5. “Because You’re Mine” by Lisa Kleypa
Just to poke a little hole in OverDrive’s breathless press release…
Following their usual PR practice, the bit about how many “iPod®-, Mac®-, and iPhone™-compatible MP3 audiobooks” they offer and have been downloaded is always given prominence, however, it should be noted that NONE of the titles in their list of most downloaded audiobooks is made available in said format.
Apart from some very rare exceptions, the vast majority of “iPod®-, Mac®-, and iPhone™-compatible MP3 audiobooks” made available through OverDrive through their library program are public-domain types of titles (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc.) as well as some titles by small publishers.
With this program, publishers have found a service that allows them to limit access to materials by public libraries- why allow a library to give it away when we can sell it for full price! If a publisher feels that a title has individual sales potential, they will not allow OverDrive to make the title available in an open format to public libraries. For example, you can BUY some of the “most downloaded” titles in DRM-free format, through OverDrive’s retail partnership with Borders, but the same titles are only available in DRM laden WMA formats to public libraries using the OverDrive service.
I find it appalling that public libraries – supposed bastions of open access – spend public money buying into a program that is so restrictive as well as blatantly intent on maximizing sales for publishers at the expense of access.