For the first time, fans of the wildly popular Harry Potter series now have a chance to listen to their favorite Hogwarts stories narrated in digital format. The series author, J.K. Rowling, announced on her Web site that her newest book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is available in MP3 format along with the first five books in the series. But before fans rush off to search for the files on the Internet, they should be aware that the audiobooks can only be downloaded from Apple's iTunes Music Store.
According to published reports, Apple and Random House Audio Trade Group, Rowling's current audio publisher, reached a deal that gives Apple exclusive rights to the distribution of the entire digital audiobook series. The deal allows customers to purchase single digital audiobooks ranging from $32.95 to $49.95, and the whole series is available for $249.
"We are honored that J.K. Rowling has picked iTunes for the debut of the Harry Potter audiobook series," said Apple's CEO Steve Jobs. "We're delighted to be able to bring these wonderful and wildly popular stories to iTunes Music Store customers."
Harry Potter fans will also get the chance to purchase the complete Harry Potter Digital Box Set with a collector's edition iPod.
Like the U2 collector's edition iPod that was engraved with the autographs of each band member, the Harry Potter version will be engraved with the Hogwarts crest.
The books are narrated by 2000 Grammy winner Jim Dale, who also received three Grammy nominations for his narration in the Potter series. The longest book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, lasts for more than 29 hours. Overall, the entire series combined is the equivalent to almost 100 CDs.
According to the Audio Publishers Associations digital audiobook sales have quadrupled between 2001 and 2003 to more than $18 million. This, and the fact that Harry Potter CDs and cassettes have been the best-selling audiobook series, could help the digital audiobook industry get off to a hot start.
The Harry Potter series has sold over 200 million copies worldwide in print editions and more than five million in audiobooks. The most recent book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours after its release. The highly demanded series has attracted online pirates who have created unofficial digital audiobooks for distribution on the Internet.
Rowling's decision to legalize the digital distribution of the audiobooks stemmed primarily from her concern over bootleg editions with altered text. "There have been a number of incidents where fans have stumbled upon unauthorized files believing them to be genuine and, quite apart from the fact that they are illegal, the Harry Potter content of these can bear very little resemblance to anything I've ever written!" said Rowling.
On her Web site, Rowling also accused eBay of refusing to take responsibility for allowing Harry Potter merchandise with fake autographs to be sold on the eBay site. "As far as I could tell on the day I dropped in, only one of the signatures on offer appeared genuine," wrote Rowling.
Even though illegal sales have been relatively small, Rowling's attempts to curtail piracy by offering official digital audiobooks are respectable. On the other hand, the legal distribution of the audio files could backfire and, due to their accessibility, lead to an increase in internet piracy. Apple is hopeful that piracy of such files will be greatly reduced.
