When Simon Vance was about 10 years old, his father gave him a tape recorder, and he’s been “playing with a microphone and making silly voices” ever since. Began a broadcasting career at BBC Radio Brighton during the summer break of 1976 while studying at Leeds University (and joining in the fun at 'Network 4' - the student TV/Radio society).After graduating took on a full time job at BBC Radio Brighton - moving a couple of years later to London where, for the rest of the decade became a newsreader and presenter for BBC Radio 4 -- the BBC's national speech-based network. Discovered a knack for narrating audiobooks by working for the Talking Book Service of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Simon won the 2006 Audie Award for Science Fiction for Richard K. Morgan’s MARKET FORCES. “You venture into so many different worlds. From week to week you don’t know which planet you’re going to be on, which country you’re going to be in.” Simon estimates he’s “closing in on 300” audiobooks. He just finished recording THE SECRET RIVER, an Orange Award winner by Kate Grenville.

The Disney stories are part of our children's music culture, and to exclude it would leave just part of a story told. People of older generation certainly still have nostalgic feelings for these fantastic vintage Children's vinyl phonograph records. In 1934 RCA/Victor released the first gramophone records of Disney soundtracks. The music from popular Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons was recorded by Frank Luther and his orchestra in November 1933. The series also included 'In a Silly Symphony,' 'Dance of the Bogey Man,' 'Mickey Mouse and Minnie's in Town,' and 'Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?' Three Little Pigs In 1965 the Buena Vista soundtrack album of 'Mary Poppins' was a super hit of all times and spent 14 weeks in the No. 1 position on the Billboard chart setting up a company record. The recording won two Grammy Awards, Best Recording for Children and Best Original Score. The sales exceeded 2 million copies. In 1988 the soundtrack of 'Oliver & Company' marked the end of the vinyl era -- it was the last Disney animated feature soundtrack to be released domestically on 12-inch disk. The CD revolution had arrived.

In 1996 Audio Publishers Association established the Audie Awards for audio books, which is an equivalent to the Oscar for the talking books industry. The nominees are announced each year in January, and the winners are announced at a gala banquet in spring, usually in conjunction with BookExpo America. The quantity of the audio book enthusiasts continued to grow. They began joining into audio book clubs. By 1997 the Columbia House Audio Book Club had more than 150,000 members and the Herrik Company's Audio Book Club in Morristown, NJ had 215,000 members.

Did you know that audio books are becoming more and more popular by each day? For example, in 2004, over $124 million worth of audio books were sold in the UK and $120 million in Germany during 2005. Experts say that this year the market is expected to rise by 20% in Europe, and audio books seem to be even more popular in the USA. A survey showed a 6 % increase over 2005 with audio book sales now estimated at $923 million. You save time, because you can listen to such books anywhere and everywhere just like an mp3 audio, and you can even do other things at the same time. You can listen when driving to and from work, when walking the dog, cycling, working around the house or at the computer, exercising, and so on. The possibilities are endless. With a fast pace of life and work on the increase, many find it hard to find the time to read. The combination of audio books and MP3 players is making it possible for people to now get their reading in where ever they go. The easy listening of to-go audio books enables multitasking while exercising, commuting, or cleaning house.