eStories is a new audiobook service that's giving Audible a run for its money

By Lulu Chang July 15, 2016

estories audiobook 32511116 headphones on the old book concept of listening to audiobooks — Monika Wisniewska/123RF

Look out Audible — there’s some competition knocking at your door. Ten months after being acquired by personal cloud company TriPlay, eMusic has reemerged as eStories, described as a “premium audiobook service at [a] low price.” Offering 80,000 titles upon launch, along with unlimited cloud storage and associated mobile apps, eStories can be synced across up to 10 devices, and offers bookworms everything from bestsellers to “small-press gems.”

Monthly plans for eStories begin at $11.99, and while Audible offers its listeners $7.49 per month for their first three months, the price then goes up to $14.95 after the introductory period expires. Currently, eStories is available on the web, iPhone, iPad, and Android phones, and tablets, but the company promises that it will “soon be available on all platforms.”

Intended to make it easier than ever for audiobook fans to discover, store, and access their favorite titles, eStories equips readers (or rather, listeners) with author bios, reviews, and tools that help them collect and keep notes on their favorite finds. And thanks to a partnership with Findaway, eStories has secured titles from all the so-called Big 5 publishers, including Hachette Audio, Macmillan Audio, and Penguin Random House Audio.

“We are excited to be a part of the new and improved eStories audiobook experience. This partnership will expand their current catalog, placing more high-quality audiobooks in reach for their users,” said Mitch Kroll, co-founder & CEO of Findaway.

Tamir Koch, TriPlay’s CEO, echoed these sentiments, noting, “We’ve wanted to get into the booming audiobook business for many years as it is a great companion to our other services and perfectly suited to our technology, digital media experience and ability to offer the same unlimited cloud storage our users have enjoyed for years … Thanks to our partnership with Findaway, we are now able to offer one of the largest audiobook catalogs available.”

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