Press
Interview with Tarek El Bolbol
1. What have you been busy with lately?
Launching Booklava, and advocating for audio books and other spoken-word audio entertainment in the Arab World.
2. Audio books are a very new thing in the market: What made you enter the audio book market in the Arab World?
It really started from a personal need. I was initially introduced to audio books in English and that was really transformative for me, not just because of the convenience, but also because of the experience of listening to a well narrated audio book. I’m also a native Arab speaker, I wanted quality Arabic audio books which I was not able to find. After doing some research, my co-founder and I, both interested in Arabic audio books, decided this was a gap we wanted to fill…and here we are
3. What are the major features of the Arab publishing market?
It’s a complex market, but also very diverse in terms of Arab dialects and compelling narratives. Although we are seen as one big denomination of almost 400 Million Arab speakers people spread out all around the World, we’re also very different as you go from one Arab country to another. Our dialects and our societies become different, but still unified under the umbrella of our beautiful language…Arabic.
4. Where do you see major challenges for the audio book business?
For the audiobook sector to take shape and form, it requires a large catalogue of high quality content, and more marketing dollars to create a movement and attract more people to the format. This will take time, require patience, and need investment.
Publishers and Authors also need to take a more active role in offering a more holistic offering to current and potential new customers; whether it be in the format of print, e-book, audio book, or more…
Another challenge is that the Rights business in the Arab World is still under developed, making rights acquisition not as streamlined or organized as it should be.
5. Your view on the future of streaming in the Arab World?
The younger generation prefers “access” over “ownership”, with streaming falling under “access”, or pay to access. This is something that has impacted many industries around the World, such as Music (Spotify), TV (Netflix), Transport (Uber), and more – and we can already feel these changes in the Arab World. I believe this will eventually spill over to Audiobooks, but perhaps more slowly.
Millennials’ growing preference for mobility in life and career has already started shifting trends from ownership to access.
6. What’s your favourite author or book from the Arab world that you think should be translated?
No one in particular comes to mind, but now’s a good time to have Arabic books translated to other foreign languages, as there is curiosity around the World for people to understand the Arab World beyond how Media or Hollywood tends to portray it. The many challenges the Arab World faces also creates an abundance of amazingly compelling stories, good and bad, which I think would be breakthrough should they be translated to foreign languages and made available for people to read worldwide.
Tarek El Bolbol will be speaking at the StoryDrive conference in Beijing (28 May - 1 June 2018).
