Sounds Publishing co-founder Catherine Oliver-Smith, who started the company with her husband Brian in April 2004, told XBiz that Penthouse executives expressed initial interest in the idea for an audio line at last year’s AEE. The project got underway in May and the two began meeting with Penthouse’s marketing and licensing division to develop Penthouse Audio.
“We liked their presentation of their own suite of products,” Penthouse Director of Retail Sales and Marketing Chris Calvosa told XBiz. “And we felt [Penthouse Audio] would go nicely with some of the other efforts the company has been making to launch new products.”
The husband and wife team said Penthouse Audio is “the most daring” of the company’s SoundsErotic audio line.
“It’s more daring because it’s Penthouse,” Oliver-Smith told XBiz. “Our traditional SoundsErotic line is targeted more towards women. It uses less aggressive language and it’s couples-oriented. I think Penthouse really runs the gamut of fantasies. They’re doing things that are a little edgier and we embraced that.”
The line features Penthouse Letters read aloud by women, though Calvosa said Penthouse is discussing adding male voices and couples-oriented material, as well as using various Penthouse Pets to read the letters aloud for the audio line.
Listeners can visit both the SoundsErotic and Penthouse Audio websites and download a free story, to preview the type of content included in a typical erotic audio story.
“Penthouse receives 12 million visitors to its website a month,” Oliver-Smith told XBiz regarding the market for erotic audio. “I think audio books have become more popular during the last four to five years, especially due to MP3 players and iPods. And romance and erotica has really experienced a resurgence – it’s not your mother’s Harlequin novel anymore.”
“It’s a fairly rich market because the internet has really opened up the adult realm for women, based on anonymity,” Calvosa added. “There’s been a surge of interest in adult products, especially for women.”
Penthouse Audio targets female consumers ages 21 through 54. The audio stories are currently available in CD format for $19.99 or as individual downloads at the website for $2.99. CDs also are available at bookstores nationwide, through Audible.com, Drugstore.com, Babeland and other retail locations.
“We feel it is a great relationship and we hope that our Penthouse Audio stories help to put some sizzle in listeners’ relationships," Brian Oliver-Smith added.