this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
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A guide to switching your Audiobook app to support more ethical and EU-based companies! (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by FallenWalnut@lemmy.world to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
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[–] oliver@lemmy.midgardmates.com 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Went with Thalia here in Germany (still less books than Audible) and used OoenAudible to convert all my books to .M4B-files and also all MP3-files from Thalia into the same file type as well.

Deployed an own instance of Audiobookshelf then and bought the plappa-app on iOS to stream or download the books, also having CarPlay-support here.

A little bit complicated but the result is worth it - and new books are bought on Thalia from now on. Works for me and my use case!

[–] simsalabim@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Thalia it’s just another locust that should have been prevented merging with Mayersche / Weltbild etc. People seem to have forgotten that it was Thalia that completely destroyed the small bookstores a few years ago, not Amazon.

[–] oliver@lemmy.midgardmates.com 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Well, I am open-minded for alternatives here that are European-based and have a similar offer like Audible or Thalia. As for Thalia, you may be right but Weltbild dismanteld itself more than a decade ago forgetting to move with the times (I loved the stores) and Mayersche - well, I know people that also said they "destroyed the small bookstores". Depends on your own opinion though. So if you know any real alternative with European background where I can buy (German( audiobooks on a similar subscription-basis - give it to me! 🙂

[–] simsalabim@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

For audiobooks you should definitely look into your local library. They usually have a digital offering that includes fairly recent audiobooks. If they support overdrive, you can use Libby, otherwise there’s the Onleihe app.

There’s also https://www.bookbeat.com/de/ which is European and you can do libro.fm. Libro.fm is from the US but you can choose to support a German or European bookstore with your purchases.

Then there are the streamers like Deezer (French) and Spotify (Swedish) though Spotify has some very shady business practices like https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversy_over_fake_artists_on_Spotify

I’m aware that alternatives are scarce and Audible’s exclusivity scheme is making everyone’s lives harder.

[–] oliver@lemmy.midgardmates.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the update - Onleihe may be an alternative, BookBeat looks nice and libro.fm could be an alternative for English-only books. Must fit to my workflow (buying the books and putting them into Audiobookshelf) but I'll check this out. 👍🏻

[–] huppakee@lemm.ee 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Tend to pirate e-books, but will check out these options since I know I'm not supporting the author and the industry.

One thing about the graph is that some are labeled as 'profit share', what does that mean? The yellow orange color gives a hint it might be a bad thing since it's not green, but it being next to environment friendly gives me the hint it is a good thing so now I'm confused.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Profit Share is good! It means they are sharing in the revenue. In this case, it is with your local libraries or bookstore!

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

This is the first version of this guide, so please share any feedback, and I'll include it in the next version.

Note: I include the services that directly support local libraries and/or are non-profit organizations

[–] Blaze@feddit.nl 3 points 2 weeks ago

Thank you for posting here!

[–] Pirata@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Would be nice if the alternatives to US software weren't other US software. 3 of your proposals are still US based.

You could instead have included Xigxag: UK-based, no monthly fee audiobook library, and BookBeat, Sweden based.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Xigxag is mentioned, but you're right that I forgot to include BookBeat. The others are US based apps but support your local library/bookstore

[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 7 points 2 weeks ago

And to keep things joined up: !PurchaseWithPurpose@lemmy.world

[–] alex@jlai.lu 5 points 2 weeks ago

Please do not switch to Audiolib. It is owned by French fascist Vincent Bolloré who is actively manipulating the media and financing far-right candidates in France that consider Donald Trump's politics a great example to follow.

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

In Germany you can have a look at the Thalia Hörbuch-Abo. First month free, afterwards 7,95€ per month. You can download one audiobook per month as MP3s. It's completely DRM free, you do not need to install any additional apps and you can cancel monthly. If you don't download anything in a period, you collect credits which you can redeem later, also after you cancelled. For the 7,95€ fee you can download audiobooks that are usually way more expensive. I had one that's regularly priced at 40€.

https://www.thalia.de/hoerbuch-download/dauerformate/hoerbuch-download-abo

[–] d_k_bo@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Solange ich mind. 12 Hörbücher im Jahr höre, komme ich damit preislich deutlich günstiger weg. Ich frage mich irgendwie, was der Haken an der Sache ist. Ich sehe soweit die Kundenbindung an Thalia als einzigen Vorteil für das Unternehmen.

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Ja, so ganz erschließt sich mir auch nicht, wieso man - wenn man dieses Abo kennt - noch Hörbücher zum Vollpreis kaufen sollte. Und es lohnt sich wie gesagt auch schon bei weniger als 12, da du ja z.B. nach drei Monaten wieder kündigen kannst. Man kann übrigens auch, wenn man mal mehr Hörbücher braucht als eines pro Monat noch beliebig viele weitere für 7,95€ dazukaufen, wenn man im Abo ist.

Andererseits: Bevor ich das Thalia-Abo entdeckt habt, habe ich mir meine Hörbücher gebraucht bei Kleinanzeigen / Medimops auf CD gekauft. Jetzt macht Thalia circa 90€ Umsatz im Jahr mit mir. Je nachdem, was sie die Lizenzen kosten, vielleicht schon lukrativ.

[–] d_k_bo@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

In welchen Formaten bekommt man eigentlich die Downloads? Nur mp3 oder auch etwas zeitgemäßer?

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Bei mir waren es bis jetzt immer MP3s. Spricht da was dagegen? Bei einem Hörbuch würde ich mir jetzt bei FLAC o.ä. keinen signifikanten Mehrwert versprechen und MP3 dürfte hinsichtlich Kompatibilität mit Apps und Abspielgeräten so ziemlich das universellste sein, oder?

[–] d_k_bo@feddit.org 1 points 2 weeks ago

Ich dachte eher an Opus oder AAC. Mp3 bietet eine schlechte (aus meiner Sicht hörbare) Audioqualität bei trotzdem großer Dateigröße.

[–] azettl@social.vivaldi.net 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

@rbn @FallenWalnut sounded great, but after checking, not a single book I want to listen to is available :/

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Are these books available as audiobooks in general? At least so far, everything I wanted was part of the subscription, even really expensive and/or new stuff.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for the suggestion! Will add it to the next version of the guide.

[–] azettl@social.vivaldi.net 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

@rbn Yes, I found them on audible and audiobooks.com

[–] rbn@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

OK, sorry to hear that. As you mentioned audiobooks.com, are you looking for English content maybe? So far, I only downloaded German stuff but of course definitely possible that I've just been lucky so far.

[–] azettl@social.vivaldi.net 1 points 2 weeks ago

@rbn Yeah, I'm looking for English content mainly about software engineering and engineering management, so it's very specific 😅. But the MP3 download made me look cause that would be awesome.

[–] EnsignWashout@startrek.website 4 points 2 weeks ago

Downpour is great for audio books. I was pleasantly surprised to find a non-mopoly replacement for Audible.

[–] Jumi@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I switched to Storytel after downloading all my Audible books and deleting the account. So far I'm pretty happy with it.

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

As a audible user, I was so excited to try this out. Lots of alternatives don't have a large selection, and the next best thing is to sail the seven seas. But I also want to support the author.

Downloaded Storytel, and not supported in America. Dang. Free me from this Audible hellhole.

[–] FallenWalnut@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Another shoutout to the "Library Extension". It will help you find alternatives should Storytel not have the option you want.

[–] georgeskorp@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I switched from Audible to Voxa. Mainly local Romanian but also English content. Both audio and ebooks

[–] CrowyTech@feddit.uk 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I'm really enjoying BookBeat. Especially with the student 60 day trial

I'd live to year people's recommendations for someone just getting in to books, albeit audiobooks.

[–] TheSealStartedIt@feddit.org 2 points 2 weeks ago

Me too! Was surprised that it's not in the list. The prices are reasonable. I'm currently on the 100 hours for 20€ tier.

[–] huppakee@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago

I've not used it, but have used Nextory which seems similar. Also Storytell seems similar. What I do like about Nextory is that they have both audiobooks and ebooks, unfortunately not always both so that can be disappointing from time to time.

I've found I don't really listen to audiobooks, prefer to read appearantly. Do think some books are more suited for being listened to than others, especially fiction. Can't recommend a book since I've only listened to Dutch books so far.

[–] Venicon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Not EU but I changed to Kobo from Amazon some time ago and don’t regret it for a second. Got a backlit e-reader for nighttime stories, loads of books on sale and none of it goes to Bezos.

[–] asymmetric@slrpnk.net 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Does anyone know of European alternatives to Amazon for physical books?

[–] vudu@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 weeks ago

Kenny's bookstore in ireland is great! I'm sure they source some of their stuff from amazon but it's a legit brick and mortar and they ship to all of EU for low low rates.

https://www.kennys.ie/

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org -1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Are you in Europe? Go to a bookstore.

[–] asymmetric@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 weeks ago

Where I am (a large city), bookstores not only don’t have the books I want available, but can’t even order them, so thanks for the snarky advice, but it doesn’t work.