The largest commercial provider of ebooks, audiobooks, and other digital content such as streaming videos in the world, a 2023 report estimated its market share as perhaps being upwards of 90%.
This company notably powers the Libby app for borrowing books.
The headquarters is located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
Are there any European alternatives available?
Be aware that Thalia is like Germany’s Amazon competing out small, independant booksbops woth unfair methods for decades. I’ve boycotted them since the 2010’s.
Is there a better German platform for audio books though? Sure, you could buy physical CDs and rip them but that’s extra work and IMHO not ideal from an environmental perspective.
I used OverDrive in the past when they still offered plain MP3s but its successor Libby isn’t for me. I’m forced to use their app, I have to block the audio book for everyone else, have to rush through as I can only borrow it for two/four weeks etc.
I recently discovered
https://www.hoebu.de/
Haven’t bought from them yet but it seems like their stuff is drm-free? And they also sell ebooks? Unfortunately it seems like you can only pay via Paypal though 👎