在美国,磁带书出版业(audiobookindustry)属于新型行业,因为磁带书进入流通领域也仅仅是80年代的事情。但是,这一行业在不到15年的时间内却获得了巨大发展,至今已经发展成一个市场总值近20亿美元的行为。据1999年美国磁带书出版商协会(APA)进行的消费者调查发现,1990-1998年间,磁带书市场扩大了360％。1995年,美国大约有12％的家庭“听”磁带书,而到了1999年,这一比例达到21％。美国书业研究集团的报告显示,在1993-1997年间,美国磁带书销售增长速度是普通图书的5倍。 In the United States, audiobookindustry belongs to the new industry, because the entry of tapes into the circulation is only 80s. However, the industry has seen tremendous growth in less than 15 years and has so far evolved into a market worth nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars. According to a consumer survey conducted by the American Tape Book Publisher Association (APA) in 1999, tape book markets expanded 360% between 1990 and 1998. In 1995, about 12% of households in the United States “listened” to tape books, and by 1999 this figure was 21%. According to the report of the American Book Industry Research Group, in the period of 1993-1997, the sales of tape books in the United States grew by five times that of ordinary books.