The Storytel app, one of the largest streaming services in the world for audiobooks and digital books, offers subscribers 600,000 books to read and listen to without limits in Hebrew, English, Russian, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Polish.
The platform allows book lovers to consume them on the way to work, on vacation, during sports or at home, and enjoy a wide range of unlimited books for the price of one book. Storytel is active in more than 25 markets worldwide including Sweden, Italy, France, the Netherlands and the USA, and its headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden.
Storyside
A central part of its activity includes the publishing division, Storyside, which is responsible for acquiring rights to record books and produce them for audio. Most of the Hebrew audiobooks are exclusively on Storytel, among them the books of Yuval Noah Harari, Meir Shalev, David Grossman, Dorit Rabinian, A. B. Yehoshua, Noa Yadlin, etc.
International bestsellers translated into Hebrew include books by Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Eckhart Toll and many more. The books were recorded in the company's studios in Israel by leading narrators and actors, and sometimes even by the authors themselves.
Also, Storytel produces original content under the Storytel Original label, with works written specifically for the platform. Storytel Originals are written from the beginning with the goal of being read and listened to.
A unique feature is the addition of musical accompaniment and sound effects along with leading narrators who add their unique voices to bring characters to life.
Post-COVID transition to audiobooks
Motti Lipman, director of Storytel operations in Israel, stated that the international book industry has been undergoing many changes in recent years. Audiobooks and digital books have been around for years, but they've mostly been targeted at specific consumers. Now, after COVID-19, Storytel recognizes the transition of many to consuming books through digital listening or reading.
Lipman added that there's a new generation of tech readers who consume unlimited music and video content through streaming services. According to him, the local book market was exposed to a global platform with a catalog of more than half a million titles, which offers the ultimate app for reading and listening in a wide variety of languages.
Storytel's uniqueness is that consumers can listen and read without restrictions while switching from reading to listening and back to reading at the push of a button while using the book.
Lipman added that Storytel is the only company to offer books in two synchronized formats. One no longer needs to buy a single book to read and a single book to listen to. There's a subscription to digital books to read and listen to without limitation.
Also, the Israeli consumer can listen to content in foreign languages as part of the monthly subscription. Storytel is happy to be the leading solution for Israeli consumers.