This document summarizes three Norwegian ebook and audiobook streaming services: Fabel, Storytel, and Ebok.no Pluss. It describes each service's business model, value proposition, and competitive advantage. Fabel focuses on a small catalogue of Norwegian authors. Storytel differentiates with a vast international catalogue across genres. Ebok.no Pluss leads on price and innovation with the option to purchase files. The document also discusses Norway's cultural policy on the book market and tensions around applying regulations developed for physical books to digital streaming.

1. STREAMING BOOKS
Value propositions and competitive advantages in
three Norwegian ebook and audio book streaming
services
Presentation for research seminar on e-books in the digital society
University of Borås, Nov. 24th 2017
Terje Colbjørnsen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oslo
terjeco@media.uio.no, @terjecol

2. • What is streaming?
• How do we use streaming services?
• How do streaming services make money?
Streaming the culture industries: Analyzing the technologies,
practices and value networks of streaming media services (STREAM)

4. Taking a step back…
• Ph.D thesis from 2015
• Five case studies of innovation and digitalization
• Ebooks, audio books, apps, devices etc.
• RQ: How can the digital publishing strategies and innovations launched
by Norwegian trade book publishers Aschehoug, Gyldendal and Cappelen
Damm in the period 2008-2012 be conceptualized as strategic responses
and how were they affected by various facets of their institutional
context, including industry structure, organizational structures,
technology, market, and policy and regulation?

5. Source: Colbjørnsen, Terje (2015). The accidental avant-garde: Audiobook technologies and publishing
strategies from cassette tapes to online streaming services. Northern Lights 13(1), s 83- 103 .
Storytel AS
(2014)
Fabel (2017)
Ebok.no Pluss
(2017)

6. Fabel
• Launched in 2017 by Lydbokforlaget AS
• Gyldendal and Aschehoug jointly owns Lydbokforlaget
• Subscription fee NOK 169/m
• Approximately 400 titles available, all in Norwegian.
• Audio books only
Storytel
• Launched in 2014 as the Norwegian branch of Swedish
Storytel AG (est. 2005)
• Norwegian Storytel jointly owned by Cappelen Damm (50 %)
and Storytel AG (50 %).
• Subscription fee NOK 199 NOK/m
• More than 50000 titles available, in Norwegian, Swedish and
English
• Audio books and ebooks
Ebok.no Pluss
• Launched in 2017
• Streaming option of online ebookstore Ebok.no
• Vigmostad & Bjørke acquired Ebok.no from Schibsted in 2015.
• Subscription fee NOK 149/m
• Approximately 350 titles available, all in Norwegian.
• Audio books and ebooks

7. Fabel
• Business model: App-based, non-restrictive on-demand
provision of streaming audio books
• Value proposition: A small catalogue of proven Norwegian
authors, conveniently delivered
• Competitive advantage through focus
• Using their traditionally strong position in audio books as
advantage
Storytel
• Business model: App-based, non-restrictive on-demand
provision of streaming ebooks and audio books
• Value proposition: A vast catalogue of diverse media content
across multiple genres and several languages
• Competitive advantage through differentiation
• Using their collaboration across Nordics as advantage
Ebok.no Pluss
• Business model: App-based, non-restrictive on-demand
provision of streaming ebooks and audio books
• Value proposition: A small catalogue of audio- and ebooks,
conveniently delivered with the option to purchase files.
• Competitive advantage through price leadership and innovation
• Using their strong standing in ebooks as advantage

8. Cultural policy and regulation of book market
• The Norwegian “Bokavtalen” is an agreement between the Norwegian
Booksellers Association and Norwegian Publishers Association:
• Retailers cannot sell new book titles at a discount higher than 12.5 %
• Retailers have an obligation to provide any book that a customer demands (“skaffeplikt”),
• Publishers affiliated with the Norwegian Publishers Association have to provide books
regardless of the retailer (“leveringsplikt”).
• For streaming services, the obligation to supply books regardless of the status of
publisher or retailer has been questioned.
• An addendum was made to the Bokavtalen in 2017, stating that “skaffeplikt” and
“leveringsplikt” also apply to streaming services
• Currently, the streaming services’ catalogues seem to depend on corporate
affiliations.
• Streaming ebooks and audio books remain in essence a backlist service.

9. Aschehoug Gyldendal
Cappelen
Damm
Vigmostad
& Bjørke
Bokdatabasen
StorytelFabel
Ebok.no
Pluss
Ereadz
Publisher
LydbokforlagetImprint
Distribution
database
Streaming
service

10. What about the obligation to
supply all retailers?
(«leveringsplikt»)?
Leveringsplikt does not apply
to digital subscription services!
There are no exceptions
for streaming services!
You have to go through
Bokdatabasen!
Bokdatabasen is a
cumbersome and
unnecessary
middleman!

11. The Norwegian streaming book market
• Four services with similar business models, quite different value
propositions, targeting essentially the same customers
• Fragmentation
• Four services, none with the full selection
• A competitive picture more like tv/film (Netflix vs. HBO) than music (Spotify
vs. Apple Music)
• Uncertainty about the sustainability of the streaming model in the
book industry
• In particular for ebooks and, to a lesser extent, for audio books
• Hightened tension between the big four in digital contexts
• Disputes over how to regulate digital markets

12. Thanks for your attention
Terje Colbjørnsen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oslo
terjeco@media.uio.no, @terjecol