Audiobooks are produced under a wide variety of business models

Audiobooks are made in a surprising variety of organizational contexts.

• Publishers produce audiobooks for the market alongside print releases of books they publish
• Distributors like Audible arrange to produce audiobooks of already-published print books
  • They also commission original, audiobook-native works.
• Authors commission or self-produce audiobook versions of their books
• Freelancers produce audiobooks in response to commissions or bounties on markets like ACX
• Volunteers collectively produce open-license audiobooks