A handful of people can turn a few words into a powerful piece of audio art through audiobooks.
The phrase audiobook emerged in the 1970s, however it had been the 1930s that saw the largest step forward in the format. At the time they were called talking books, which were envisioned as reading materials for blind individuals. Governments in a few nations allowed producers to bypass copyright laws, which gave them access to plenty of material, but technical limitations meant full size books could not be recorded. Instead poems, short stories and plays, and specific chapters of books had been the most typical early audiobooks. The content continued to remain this way for a number of years, however the audience base did see an expansion to children and other adults without sight problems. The head of the hedge fund that has shares in Amazon is going to be well aware that this created the groundwork for the future audiobook market, pushing it in to the main-stream as a separate artform instead of solely as a method of making accessibility.
Oral literature is humanity's oldest kind of storytelling, having an unfathomable amount of stories being handed down through the generations in most corners of the globe for thousands of years. Though certain cultures do not put as great of an emphasis on oral traditions as they did throughout the past, they nevertheless persist strongly in some circumstances, like telling tales to children. The founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones will understand that oral storytelling has undergone a resurgence recently in the form of audiobooks. But, while they might seem like a modern-day sensation, the history of audiobooks dates back several decades. Sound recordings first became possible around a hundred and fifty years back and the first tests were recitations of nursery rhymes and kid's stories. Spoken word tracks continued to be developed in the following decades but had been limited to about four minutes in total.
Every decade for the past 50 years has brought with it technical changes which has affected the way we consume art. Film and television has experienced VHS and DVDs. Music has experienced cassettes and CDs. Both have been influenced by portable devices and streaming. Additionally, many of these technical advancements have aided to develop the audiobook market. The leader of the hedge fund that partially owns WHSmith will be able to inform you that it has grown to be so prevalent that people don't need to turn to specialised retailers, because most book merchants also offer audiobooks. People enjoy having the ability to listen to tales whilst they are doing other tasks like driving, chores, and work, which audiobooks are just perfect for. The audiobook industry now employs several thousand people, with the most crucial roles being narrator, studio engineer, and director.