Landover, Md.-based RBmedia isn't your typical media company. Part audio publisher, part audio distributor, the newly launched company is poising itself to dominate all points of the audio media world.
The company brings together eight different brands on both the spoken audio publishing side and the distribution side of audio media. And RBmedia announced Tuesday its acquisition of Audiobooks.com as a way of bringing its product directly to consumers. Its other partnerships include publishing groups like Recorded Books, HighBridge Audio, Tantor Media, ChristianAudio, W.F. Howes (UK-based) and Wavesound (in Australia).
RBmedia is the product of Shamrock Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based private equity company, which threw together all of its seven media companies across the U.S. and placed its headquarters in Landover. Audiobooks.com is just the latest addition to the media party.
I think it’s really exciting for the D.C. area to have a really cool media and tech company of scale.
RBmedia distributes its content through a number of different vehicles—from audio books distributed through a partnership with Amazon's Audible to mobile apps to e-magazines. The company has about 700,000 titles to its name, including both audio content and digital magazines.
"This has happened over a number of years," RBmedia Chief Product and Marketing Officer John Shea told DC Inno. "It's kind of just been evolving over time."
Of course, Shea notes, the driving consumption of podcasts as one factor contributing to the growth in the audio content market. But they aren't just looking to podcasts and audiobooks for revenue, Shea said.
"The way we look at our competition, it comes from a number of different angles," Shea said. "Look at the library sector: in that space, we compete with several different companies that have a mobile platform and distributes content. If you look at our publishing side of the house, we are competing against different companies that might also look to publish audio and bring audio works to market."
Shea said, right out of the gate, they're working to be a player in all of the audio content fields. They distribute e-magazines, audiobooks, online courses and more. "We feel like through our partnership with Amazon's Audible and our ability to go directly through Audiobooks.com now, we have consumer reach that no one else has," he said. "As a result of that, we can monetize the rights for a published work—It can be a book or something like that. We can monetize that better than any of the other folks that are out there."
Consumers can access RBmedia's library through Audiobooks.com, which will keep its same name and website through the acquisition, or through RBmedia's libraries that are distributed through a number of apps.
With the launch, RBmedia is looking to make updates to some of its tech platforms and focus on bringing new forms of contents to users. Shea couldn't say what exactly they were looking to add, but he did say the company is looking at more acquisitions. It's a nine-figure revenue company, he said, so they have the means to add more.
"I think it’s really exciting for the D.C. area to have a really cool media and tech company of scale," Shea said. "It’s neat; it's an opportunity for technology oriented people looking for new opportunities."
Images courtesy of RBmedia
