NewsBriefs

Following the Apple January 6 announcement that it will be dropping digital rights management (DRM) protections from the music tracks in its iTunes store, LJ asked audiobook providers how this development might impact audiobooks in the library market. Though Apple has yet to make its audiobooks DRM-free, and though many of those with whom we spoke foresaw no changes to the current library-lending model of licensing to multiple users, several were optimistic about the development, and digital media distributors OverDrive and Recorded Books both advised that more DRM-free offerings were in the pipeline for libraries. Complete coverage at tinyurl.com/LJstory.

OverDrive reported last month that checkouts of downloadable media at its roughly 8500 network libraries exceeded ten million items in 2008. The number of users increased by 45 percent over 2007, with readers making Stephenie Meyer's Twilight the most downloaded audiobook and ebook of 2008. For the complete list of last year's most downloaded audiobooks and ebooks via OverDrive, visit tinyurl.com/ODstats.

On February 24, Oasis Audio imprint Springwater will release an audio edition of longtime LJ fiction reviewer Robert Conroy's latest novel of alternate history, 1942, with Roger Mueller reading. Also forthcoming from Springwater are audio editions of two of Conroy's earlier novels, 1862 and 1945. More info at www.oasisaudio.com/springwater.php.

Christian-based publishing services company Innovo Publishing launched its new audiobook division last month with Bart Dahmer's sf thriller Primal Screams, narrated by Ralph Wallace, as a downloadable MP3 title. Innovo audios are available in CD, MP3-CD, and downloadable MP3 formats. More info at www.innovopublishing.com.

This month's release of Richard Petty's Audio Scrapbook coincides with the 25th anniversary of the NASCAR king's record 200th career victory. The four-disc series also features the voices of racing announcer Barney Hall and drivers Junior Johnson, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. More info at www.rpetty.net.

Chapterhouse Dune, the final audio installment of Frank Herbert's original series, includes a 5½-minute video about the making of the audiobooks. The title is available this month as both a retail-edition (Macmillan Audio) and a library-edition CD (Macmillan Audio from Sound Library: BBC Audiobooks America). Watch the video at tinyurl.com/ChapterhouseDune.