eMusic Hits the Books

If you do most of your reading through headphones or your car stereo, then prick up your ears: eMusic, the number-two digital music vendor, is now selling audiobooks on its website -- and like all of the company's offerings, the books are being made available as DRM-free MP3s.

In a nutshell, eMusic is extending its music-selling tactics to its new wares. Audiobooks are available by monthly subscriptions, at $9.99 a title (compared to the $20 that appears to be the iTunes average), and the site will feature audiobook reviews from established critics. (If the music titles I've bookmarked to save for later on eMusic are any indication, this last feature will guarantee that customers stick around.)

The current list of titles numbers in the thousands, from publishers like Penguin and Random House, as well as smaller imprints @@@ -- a casual search of the site turned up Alice Cooper, Golf Monster, A Scanner Darkly and The Firm.

eMusic doesn't seem to be content to stay #2 in this arena -- eMusic CEO and president David Pakman said that eMusic will "overnight become the second biggest digital audiobook retailer," clearly taking aim at Apple, whose iTunes is currently #1. This David has done a good job of holding his own against Goliath so far; let's see how this new challenge plays out.