Leading spoken audio company enters 2024 with the largest offering in the industry, a record number of new titles published, bestsellers, and awards

Landover, MD, January 17, 2024—RBmedia, the largest audiobook publisher in the world, today announced continued momentum and another year of record-breaking growth. The company entered new strategic partnerships, published more titles than ever before, and produced audiobooks for numerous New York Times bestsellers and literary award winners. In 2023, the company was acquired by Francisco Partners and H.I.G. Capital, who are investing in the continued growth of RBmedia’s vast audiobook catalog and powerful distribution network that reaches millions of listeners globally.

RBmedia Publishing Highlights

RBmedia remained the undisputed leader in the spoken audio market with a catalog surpassing 70,000 titles in 2023—the largest offering in the industry. The company produced a record number of new titles across its 12 publishing brands—topping bestseller lists and major industry awards. Major publishing accomplishments during the year included:

• Partnered with Spotify to provide instant access to RBmedia audiobooks as part of its Premium subscription
• Established exclusive audiobook partnerships with two leading publishers, including:
  • Sourcebooks, one of the country’s fastest-growing independent publishers
  • Abrams, known for its extensive and acclaimed publishing in fiction, nonfiction, and memoir across both adult and children’s books
• Released the most audiobooks the company has ever produced in a single year
• Produced audiobooks for an impressive 58 New York Times bestsellers
• Signed multiple bestselling authors to new deals, including Rebecca Yarros, Emily Rath, Scarlett St. Clair, Sarah J. Maas, Craig Johnson, Jayne Krentz, and Jeff Kinney
• Published audio for many of the most popular books, including:
  • Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing” across multiple languages and formats
  • Abraham Verghese’s “The Covenant of Water,” an instant New York Times bestseller
  • Patrick Rothfuss’ “The Narrow Road Between Desires,” a new Kingkiller Chronicle novella
  • Pierce Brown’s “Light Bringer,” the sixth Red Rising audiobook
  • Three original Hellboy Universe audiobooks with a full cast of actors, sound effects, and cinematic music
  • “Erasure” by Percival Everett, now adapted for the screen as “American Fiction”
  • “Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire: The Official Novelization” by V. Castro, with the Netflix adaptation streaming now
• Published audio for award-winning titles including:
  • One Oprah’s Book Club Pick
  • Three Pulitzer Prize finalists
  • One National Book Award finalist and four honors recipients
  • One Audie Award winner
  • One Edgar Award winner
  • 11 Audible and one Apple Books Best of 2023 selections
  • One Giller Prize finalist
  • One Booker Prize finalist

RBmedia International Highlights

In 2023, RBmedia international brands also experienced record growth. During the year, the company:

• Expanded partnerships with international publishers, including the addition of:
  • Unbound, an award-winning, independent publisher and first to harness the power of crowdfunding
  • Verve Books, a dynamic independent publisher of page-turning, diverse, and original fiction
• Published, via RBmedia’s BookaVivo brand, Spanish-language editions of audiobooks by international bestselling authors, including Rebecca Yarros, Lucy Score, Mimi Matthews, Hannah Nicole Maehrer, Fernando Gamboa, Robert Greene, Adam Grant, Michael Alan Singer, and Grady Hendrix
• Produced top-selling audiobooks internationally, including:
  • “Past Lying” by Val McDermid
  • “A Memoir of My Former Self” by Hilary Mantel
  • “Poor Things” by Alasdair Gray, now a film starring Oscar-winner Emma Stone
  • “Did I Ever Tell You This?” by Sam Neill
  • “Trinkerbelle” written and performed by actress Mimi Fiedler
  • “Love, Theoretically” and “The Inconveniences of Love” by Ali Hazelwood
  • “Wie man einen Prinzen tötet,” audio for Hugo Award–winning book by T. Kingfisher
• Won Audiobook of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards and Best True Crime Audiobook at the True Crime Awards
• Received a nomination for Non-Fiction Audiobook of the Year at The British Book Awards
• Acquired audio rights for additional French-language content, including:
  • Forthcoming works from international bestseller Paullina Simons
  • “The Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros
  • Scarlett St. Clair’s Hades & Persephone series and Hades Saga series (10-audiobook deal)
  • “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” and “The Fragile Threads of Power” through a seven-audiobook deal with V. E. Schwab
• Celebrated the 25th anniversary of its UK audio brand, W. F. Howes Ltd

###

About RBmedia

RBmedia is the largest audiobook publisher in the world. With more than 70,000 titles, our audiobooks continually top key literary awards and bestseller lists. The company’s powerful digital retail and library distribution network reaches millions of listeners around the globe—at home, in the car, and everywhere their mobile devices go. Our titles are available on leading audio platforms, including Audible, Spotify, Apple, Google Play, Audiobooks.com, Storytel, OverDrive, Hoopla, and many more. Find out more at rbmediaglobal.com.