For audiobooks I recently discovered libro.fm and it works great. You can use their app to listen to it like any other service, but you can also just download the plain drm-free mp3s. For music there is bandcamp if the artist is on there, but for movies and series I’m not aware of any vendors like that. DVDs I don’t see as an option because their file size limit is too low, the quality on a modern TV looks really bad. And Blurays are a whole other level of DRM hell.
Thanks for this! I’m so glad to see an audible alternative.
EDIT: I signed up for a free trial and will give it a go. Bummed to see they have a much smaller selection but I guess that’s expected with Amazon’s muscle.
I don’t know about the value of libro.fm… Seems to me that the monthly subscription is the price of a physical book and you only get one per month?
I get a much better deal with my city’s library which offers a large catalogue of audio books for free. It’s not owning, it’s borrowing like you would from a library but at least it doesn’t cost anything.
I think the pricing of their subscription is roughly the same as audible’s, but you get your books DRM-free. They also have some great books on sale sometimes that you don’t need a subscription for, and you can choose a local bookstore to share revenue with. That said, city libraries are an amazing option as well.
Awesome, thanks for sharing this! I haven’t gotten into audiobooks yet, but it’s good to know that there are user friendly options out there.
Vaguely related: it’s also possible to listen to audio books through local libraries in some cases. I think the app is not as friendly, and does a lot to prevent you from getting DRM free mp3s, but at least there’s no charge.
For audiobooks I recently discovered libro.fm and it works great. You can use their app to listen to it like any other service, but you can also just download the plain drm-free mp3s. For music there is bandcamp if the artist is on there, but for movies and series I’m not aware of any vendors like that. DVDs I don’t see as an option because their file size limit is too low, the quality on a modern TV looks really bad. And Blurays are a whole other level of DRM hell.
Thanks for this! I’m so glad to see an audible alternative.
EDIT: I signed up for a free trial and will give it a go. Bummed to see they have a much smaller selection but I guess that’s expected with Amazon’s muscle.
There WAS bandcamp…
I know it got sold twice and I am worried about the future but I believe they still have the same purchase and download options for now.
I don’t know about the value of libro.fm… Seems to me that the monthly subscription is the price of a physical book and you only get one per month?
I get a much better deal with my city’s library which offers a large catalogue of audio books for free. It’s not owning, it’s borrowing like you would from a library but at least it doesn’t cost anything.
I think the pricing of their subscription is roughly the same as audible’s, but you get your books DRM-free. They also have some great books on sale sometimes that you don’t need a subscription for, and you can choose a local bookstore to share revenue with. That said, city libraries are an amazing option as well.
Awesome, thanks for sharing this! I haven’t gotten into audiobooks yet, but it’s good to know that there are user friendly options out there.
Vaguely related: it’s also possible to listen to audio books through local libraries in some cases. I think the app is not as friendly, and does a lot to prevent you from getting DRM free mp3s, but at least there’s no charge.