Blackstone Audio

Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Private
Industry Publishing
Founded 1987
Founder Craig & Michelle Black
Headquarters Ashland, Oregon
Products Audiobooks, Print Books, and eBooks
Number of employees
 150-200 (2018)
Website www.blackstoneaudio.com

Blackstone Audio is one of the largest independent audiobook publishers in the United States, offering over 23,000 audiobooks.[1] The company is based in Ashland, Oregon with five in-house recording studios. Blackstone distributes directly to consumers on their e-commerce site, as well as to the library market with titles from Blackstone, Hachette, HarperCollins, BBC and Disney Press.[1][2]

Corporate history

Blackstone was founded in 1987 by Craig and Michelle Black, originally under the name Classics on Tape. The company later assumed the name Blackstone, taken from an English literary magazine. The company's location in Ashland, Oregon was influenced by the proximity of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which Blackstone used as a pool for voice actors.[3]

In August 2012, Blackstone launched an audiobook e-commerce website, Downpour.com, providing Blackstone audio titles as well as other publisher's titles to the retail market.[4][5][6] In January 2013 the company was acquired by AudioGO for an undisclosed sum.[7] Ten months later, in October of that year, AudioGO sold Blackstone back to the Black family, with the UK arm of AudioGO ceasing business operations as it sought a buyer or investor.[8][9]

Awards

In December 2011, Blackstone Audio's production of Hamlet at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was nominated for a Grammy Award.[10] In 2014 the company won two Audie Awards.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Blackstone Audio - About Us". Blackstone Audio Inc. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  2. ↑ "FEDLINK Services Directory: Blackstone Audiobooks". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
  3. ↑ Mann, Danielle. "Blackstone Audio, Inc". The Oregon Encyclopedia. The Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "First thoughts on Downpour: DRM-free and beta-testing (updated)". The AudioBookaneers. 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  5. ↑ "Downpour.com–an audiobook delivery system that just works". SFFAudio.com. 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  6. ↑ "Downpour.com". Download.com. 2014-01-05. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  7. ↑ "AudioGO Acquires Blackstone Audio". Publishers Weekly. January 4, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  8. ↑ "AudioGO suspends business operations". The Bookseller. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Blackstone Audio buys AudioGO US arm". Publishers Weekly. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  10. ↑ "Blackstone up for Grammys". Ashland Daily Tidings. 2011-12-12. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  11. ↑ "2014 Audie Award winners". Library Journal. 2014-06-12. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
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