RBmedia

Market position

RBmedia describes itself as the largest audiobook publisher in the world, and third-party coverage characterizes it as the world's largest independent audiobook publisher and distributor. Its catalog grew from more than 66,000 titles at the time of the 2023 ownership change to over 110,000 titles, and it publishes over 9,000 new titles annually.

Scale of catalog and annual output, breadth of retail and library distribution relationships, a portfolio of specialized imprints covering business, Christian, dramatized full-cast, and international-language audio, and a record of bestseller and award placements including New York Times bestsellers, Audie Awards, Pulitzer Prize winners, Newbery and Printz honorees.

Technology

The company describes proprietary data and technology used to identify emerging authors and titles, together with professional narration and audio production capabilities, including full-cast productions with music and sound effects at GraphicAudio, and a digital infrastructure supporting global retail and library distribution.

Go-to-market

Distribution through more than 50 digital retail and library platforms, including Audible, Spotify, Apple, Google Play, Kobo, Audiobooks.com, Storytel, OverDrive, and hoopla, supported by direct rights acquisition from authors and publishers and a multi-brand imprint structure.

Consumer audiobook listeners reached via retail platforms and library patrons, as well as authors, literary agents, and publishers seeking audio rights partners.

Geography

Headquartered in Landover, Maryland, with production studios in New York and elsewhere and international operations including W. F. Howes in the United Kingdom, Wavesound in Australia, BookaVivo in Spain, RBmedia Verlag in Germany, and Éditions Thélème for French-language content. Dreamscape Publishing distributes audiobooks in over 60 countries.

History

The business traces to Recorded Books, founded in Maryland in 1978-1979 by Henry Trentman as an unabridged audiobook rental service for libraries and schools. Recorded Books was acquired by Haights Cross Communications in December 1999, purchased HighBridge Audio from Workman Publishing and then Tantor Media in January 2015, and was sold to Shamrock Advisors later in 2015. RBmedia was organized in April 2017 as an umbrella company combining Recorded Books, HighBridge Audio, Tantor Media, ChristianAudio, Gildan Media, W.F. Howes and Wavesound; it acquired Audiobooks.com that same month and Gildan Media in September 2017. Shamrock sold the company to KKR in July 2018. Subsequent steps included the March 2020 acquisition of GraphicAudio, the June 2020 sale of its library assets (including RBdigital) to KKR-owned OverDrive, the March 2021 acquisition of Barcelona-based Booka (rebranded BookaVivo), the May 2021 purchase of McGraw-Hill Professional's audiobook business, the August 2021 launch of Ascent Audio, the November 2021 sale of Audiobooks.com to Storytel for $135 million, the December 2021 acquisition of Author's Republic, and the January 2022 purchase of German publisher ABOD (RBmedia Verlag). KKR sold RBmedia to H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners in September 2023, after which the company acquired Dreamscape Media from Midwest Tape in 2024 and Boldwood Books in 2026.

Risks & controversies

In February 2026 RBmedia laid off 22 workers at its GraphicAudio division, roughly half of the 46-person bargaining unit that had voted to unionize with Communications Workers of America Local 2108 in August, including all four members of the union bargaining committee; the company attributed the action to a shift toward fewer, bestseller-focused full-cast productions. The union stated the company did not voluntarily recognize it, and a Department of Labor filing showed RBmedia's VP of Human Resources paid $31,351 to anti-union consultancy Employer Labor Solutions. The company said it respects employees' right to unionize and is bargaining in good faith. Reported staff pay levels were also a stated catalyst for unionization.