Breakfasts 2019 Welcome to Octobers BIC Breakfast - Listen Up! - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Breakfasts 2019

Welcome to October’s BIC Breakfast - Listen Up! Understanding the Digital Audiobook Supply Chain

#BICBreakfast

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What is a BIC Breakfast?

BIC Committees

Digital Supply Chain Libraries Metadata Physical Supply Chain

Regular BIC Events

BIC Breakfasts

(monthly)

Networking Events Building a Better Business Seminar at London Book Fair

(12th March 2020 – BIC Building a Greener Business Seminar)

Engagement

Extensive Training Programme Social Media: @BIC1UK @KarinaLuke @BIC_LCF Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Over to Alan…

W3C Introduction for BIC Breakfast: Listen Up! Understanding the Digital Audiobook Supply Chain

• J. Alan Bird,

Global Business Development Leader

London, October 2019

Web for All

Tim Berners-Lee’s message at London Olympics that the Web is for Everyone

The Generative Web

W3C Community: Focus on Innovation

• W3C is an open innovation community
• As more technology platforms migrate to the Web, W3C is

broadening its focus to provide collaboration, facilitation, and technical guidance to a growing set of stakeholders.

Automotive

Web of Things (IoT)

Entertainment

Publishing Telecom Web Payments Web of Data

Advertising

Focus Areas of Innovation

Digital Credentials 1994 2005 2011 2013 2015 2017 2018 Future Secure Payments Blockchain, DIDs Immersive Digital Publishing Payments Streaming Video Connected Car Real-time Comm Mobile Web Core Web (HTML, CSS, etc)

1 3

W3C Expands Core Capabilities

• f the Web

Current Work

Core Web Capabilities: Future Innovations

1 4

Future work

Key Facts about W3C

• Founded in 1994 by Web inventor

Tim Berners-Lee

• ~460 Members; full-time staff ~60
• Community of <11,000
• Liaisons to drive interoperability
• ISO TC 68, ISO 20022, IETF, …
• Hundreds of specifications,royalty-free

In 2016, Tim Berners-Lee received the Turing Award for his invention of the Web.

Why Web Standards?

• Standards work well for
• Shared technical problem
• Good enough technical solution
• Ecosystem interest in common resolution

W3C provides the forum and process: community and membership develop the specifications that drive the evolution of the Web.

Membership Benefits

• Shape the future and prioritization of

Web standards

• Network, develop expert resource

contacts

• Create business partnerships with global

technology leaders

• Provide strategic direction, new

perspectives and your specific use cases to the Web community

Thank you!

@w3c

@JAlanBirdW3C alan.bird@w3.org

• J. Alan Bird

Over to Elizabeth…

Understanding the Digital Audiobook Supply Chain

ELIZABETH CAMPBELL DIGITAL OPERATIONS CONTROLLER, PAN MACMILLAN

What’s different?

• Casting
• Metadata
• Cover image
• Recording
• Editing
• Distribution

Text in house

Publication

12 months

Final text approval 9 weeks

Typical print production schedule

• Recorded, edited and distributed at

the very end of the ‘traditional’ production cycle

Audio production begins

Audio schedule

Final text approval Publication 9 weeks Recording – 7-8 weeks before publication Master delivery – 4 weeks before publication Delivery to retailers – 3 weeks before publication Text sent to Reader Editing

Over to Simon…

BIC Digital Supply Chain:

Understanding the Digital Audiobook Supply Chain

Simon Pallant Digital & I.T. Services Manager Gardners

Digital Wholesale and Distribution Publishers Total Lines Physical Books 63,838 5,906,597 Non Book / Merchandise 903 9,650 Digital Content 26,223 2,851,950 Music 11,952 269,728 Film 1,176 50,811

Digital Wholesale and Distribution Publishers Total Lines Physical Books 63,838 5,906,597 Non Book / Merchandise 903 9,650 Digital Content 26,223 2,851,950 Music 11,952 269,728 Film 1,176 50,811 Digital Publishers Total Lines eBooks 26,069 2,790,194 eAudio 154 61,756

Supply Chain

Publisher Vendor

Consumer

Gardners

Fulfilment Platforms

Retail Library Academic Onix Files Cover Images Sample Files

Distribution Channels

Onix Files Cover Images Sample Files MP3’s

eAudio Logistics Considerations

• Title (Package) Size

Overall average size 403mb per title

• Zip files & Individual chapters

Overall average 43 Chapters per title (1-1708)

• Variable audio formats
• Variable File Names
• Inserts

Publisher Deliveries

• Back Catalogues:

FTP USB HD’s NAS CD’s

• Regular Deliveries:

FTP Storage Comparison: 2.8 million eBooks 62k eAudio Titles 28tb 25tb (x2) 100tb+ Archive

eAudio eBooks

eAudio Supply Considerations

• Standardise Metadata as Onix
• Standardise Cover Image Sizes
• Audio File Processing:

Rip From CD’s Split or Join Audio Files Convert WAV files into Different Formats for Each Platform MP3’s @ 128kbps (min), M4A’s, MP4’s Rename Files To Standardise Chapter Naming Add ID3 Tags: Title Author Narrator Publisher Publication Date Chapter Number Track x of y Embed Cover Image Extract Samples (First 2mins) Package for delivery as Chapters and Zips

Supply Chain

Publisher Gardners Retailers Consume r

Fulfilment Platforms

Retail Library Academic Onix Files Cover Images Sample Files

Distribution Channels

Onix Files Cover Images Sample Files MP3’s

Supply Chain - Reality

Publisher Gardners Retail Fulfilment Library Fulfilment Academic Fulfilment Distribution Retailers Consumer Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Publisher Importers Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Consumer Publisher Publisher Publisher Library Suppliers Academic Suppliers Aggregators

Thank You! Simon Pallant Digital & I.T. Services Manager Gardners

Over to Paul & Nick…

Digital Retail Audiobook Supply Chain

Paul Bradley - I.T. Project Manager Nick Coveney – Publisher Relations and Content Lead

Background

• W. F. Howes is the UK’s leading audiobook publisher, part of the

RBMedia Group.

• Entered into the Retail market in 2008 with launch of Whole Story

Audiobooks Imprint.

• In 2017 W. F. Howes launched our Whole Story Quest imprint.
• Currently have 4,469 Digital Retail Audiobook Titles on sale.
• Digital Retail Audiobook publications and sales have significantly

grown year on year.

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

• W. F. Howes Digital Retail Audiobook

Titles Published

Old ld and New Dig igital Supply Chain Process

• Average 65 new Digital Retail

Audiobook titles per month

• Audiobook File, Image File and

Metadata creation.

• Old Retail Digital Supply Chain

Process

• New Automated Retail Digital

Supply Chain Process

New Digital Supply Chain Process

New Supply Chain Benefits

• Reduced time in preparing files

to send.

• Decreased delays in the supply

chain in sending the Metadata and Assets.

• The Metadata is now more

accurate.

• Increased the number of pre-

release titles distributed to Retailers.

Current Dig igital Supply Chain Is Issues

• Getting Metadata, Images and Audio assets

ready in a timely manner.

• Limitations on internet bandwidth.
• File Transfer technical issues.
• Successful file transfer acknowledgements.
• Highlighting significant & prioritised titles just

before release.

• Most retailers do not advise of their lead times.

Kobo Audiobooks

Our preferred formats

• Kobo issues Onix 3.0 for metadata because it is the standard
• MP3 or M4A files
• No individual file should be over 200MB, no product should be over 800MB.

(In both of these cases, it can significantly compromise the user’s experience in requiring such large files on their device).

• Bitrate and mono/ stereo encoding is at your discretion

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The Kobo Audio Operations team has generated an easy to understand 14 page guide of Dos and Don’ts for metadata supplied to Kobo Which details common mistakes publishers make with their Audiobook metadata, some of these may appear obvious However as the ONIX 3.0 integration of metadata based on our template is automated, any deviation from our requested standards will cause ingestion issues. (Even relatively innocuous differences such as using lowercase or extraneous spaces in data fields).

Why preorders are more sensitive on audiobooks

Your audiobook assets should be delivered to OverDrive/ Rakuten Kobo at least 2 weeks in advance of their On Sale Dates, ideally 4 weeks prior to its publication date. If a title has been pushed out or cancelled, you will need to update your metadata with us at Kobo as soon as possible. If you don’t know the new on sale date please refrain from setting an inaccurate On Sale Date (e.g., 2099), and instead make the title inactive for the time being.

Direct Audio and KWL Audio

We have recently begun enabling Direct Audio supply to accounts which creates a more stable system for file supply, We are delighted that two weeks ago we have launched a tool for our Independent Author community, Kobo Writing Life to upload their own audiobooks direct to our platform. Although the documentation has only been supplied to KWL authors currently, we have this informative video on how to upload audiobooks directly via KWL if you would like more information https:/ / kobowritinglife.zendesk.com/ hc/ en-us/ articles/ 360035926314-How-to-Upload-your- Audiobook-direct-on-Kobo

Future innovation and why we need an industry standard

Rakuten Kobo are working with the W3C to make the manifest/ table of contents a standard requirement for audiobook products in the retail supply chain Thereby ensuring a better navigation experience for listeners. We strive to align retailer needs within their standards to create To define a larger industry standard which is not yet in place for audiobooks but is desperately needed to ensure that Publishers understand the issues caused by incomplete or inaccurate metadata. All information of their work is found here: https:/ / www.w3.org/ TR/ audiobooks/

Over to Alan…

AUDI OBOOKS

Overview of W3C’s work on Standards for the Industry

PUBLISHING WORKI NG GROUP

The Pu blish in g Wor k ing Gr oup is focused

• n br inging t he m od er n w eb plat for m

an d all of its benefit s t o t he pu blishing indust ry

OUR GOAL USE CASE DRIVEN

We w ork fr om use cases p u lled fr om

• ur com m u n it y t o t h en develop

st andards t hat address real pr oblem s

PROFILES

Fr om t he use cases, w e develop "profiles" t hat address specific needs for segm ent s

• f t he industry, like audiobook s

THE AUDI OBOOKS USECASE

BRINGING STANDARDS TO A MATURE INDUSTRY

AUDI OBOOKS THROUGH HI STORY

Thom as Edison present s

"Ph on ogr ap h ic books"

as a pot ent ial use of his n ew invent ion, t he p h on og r ap h

1877

The AFB an d Library

• f Congress cr eat e t he

"Talking Book s

Pr ogram " t o pr ovide r eading m at er ial for inj ur ed war vet erans an d b lin d p eop le

1931

The Au d io Publisher s Associat ion est ablishes t he n am e

"audiobook " as t he

indust ry st andar d

1994

Au d ib le.co m develops t he first digit al m ed ia player, br in gin g t he conv en ien ce of dir ect d o w n lo ad t o t he au dio w or ld

1997

Au d iob ook s is a $3+ billion dollar indust ry an d represent s t he biggest gr ow t h in pu blish in g since ebook s

TODAY

WHAT ARE THE AUDIOBOOK USE CASES?

List ening

A user sh ou ld b e able t o list en t o an au d iob ook en d t o en d w it h ou t input , w it h ou t int er r upt ion.

Nav igat ion

A user sh ou ld always k n ow or b e able t o find out w h er e t hey are in an au diobook .

Por t abilit y

A user sh ou ld b e able t o d ow n load, st ream , or offline t heir au diobook .

Accessibilit y

A user, regardless of abilit y, sh ou ld b e able t o enj oy t heir cont ent .

STATE OF THE AUDI OBOOKS UNI ON:

No st andard dist ribut ion, delivery, or product ion st andard.

LET'S MAKE AN AUDI OBOOK

Jane Eyre by Char lot t e Br ont e

Cover I m age Au d io Files Su pplem en t al Cont ent Track List

EVERYONE IS DI FFERENT

• Ret ailers can receive b ad
• r incor r ect dat a
• The user ex per ience suffers
• Au diobook s in t his system are

siloed t o t heir r et ail/app plat for m

• This system lim it s in d ep en d en t

con t en t creat ors or sm all publisher s

Different St andards = Different Pr oblem s

TRANSLATI NG CHALLENGES I NTO SPECFI CATI ONS

USE CASES AND MORE

W H A T M A K E S A N A U D I O B O O K U N I Q U E?

We look ed at t he current m arket of audiobook s experiences an d det er m in ed t he core use cases.

THE CURRENT EXPERIENCE MISSING FUNCTIONALITY

What are co m m o n use cases t hat are eit her current ly underserved or not represent ed by audiobook s ex per iences? What cou ld w e ad d t o t he ex per ience t hat t he m oder n w eb plat for m can pr ov ide?

Au d iob ook pu blish ing is an est ablished industry, every au dio publisher is com for t able w it h t heir current pract ices, w hy int r oduce n ew w ork w it h changes t o h o w t hey m ake, dist ribut e, an d develop files?

The Ar gu m en t Against

Mov ing t o a single specificat ion elim inat es t he n eed for m u lt iple workflows, opens audiobook s t o t he m od er n w eb plat form , brings n ew features t o t he pr oduct , an d sim plifies file delivery. Ret ailers w h o have im p lem en t ed a sim ilar st andard have seen m assive r educt ions in processing t im e.

The Ar gu m en t For

WE NEED THE SUPPORT OF THE PUBLI SHI NG I NDUSTRY

W3C Specifications are fueled by feedback.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Wh at happens nex t

The First Pu b lic Wor king Draft of t he Au diobook s profile has b een published.

TODAY

We w ill b e look ing for im plem en t or s t o ad op t

• ur spec an d provide

im plem ent at ions an d test results

CANDIDATE RECOM M ENDATION

Reach out t o t he indust ry for m or e feedback, seek

• ut im plem ent or s, an d

prepare t he im p lem en t at ion an d test plans.

SUMMER 2019

FOUR NEW USE CASES

SUPPLEM ENTAL CONTENT

I m ages, graphs, dat a, any n on-au d io con t en t a con t en t creat or believes is n eed ed t o com p let e t he exper ience.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A r ich HTML for m at t ed t able of cont ent s for con t en t parit y w it h an EPUB or pr int book.. Gives t he user t he abilit y t o always k n ow w her e t hey are in t he cont ent .

SYNCHRONIZED MEDIA

Sync au dio con t en t w it h text. Give users t he oppor t unit y t o m ov e b et w een t ext an d r ich audio, or follow along. Mak e con t en t accessible t o users regardless of abilit y.

PACKAGING

Pr ovides a m et h o d for B2 B exchange, an d sim plified user dow n loads.

Publishing@W3C Overview

h t t ps: / / w w w. w 3 . or g/ publishin g/

W3C UK & Ireland Office

W3c- uk@w3.org Cont act m e direct ly alan.bird@w3.org + 1 978 335 0537

KEEP IN TOUCH

Any questions?

Thank you for attending October 2019’s BIC Breakfast:

Listen Up! Understanding the Digital Audiobook Supply Chain

Alaina-Marie Bassett Business Manager Book Industry Communication Ltd 0207 255 0513 Alaina-Marie@bic.org.uk