The Audible Audio Download Chart July: Angry young men turn to Manson

In its 15th month in the Audible chart, Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck ascended to the top spot, denying Stephen Fry’s Mythos a fifth month in pole position. Since the sweary self-help book first appeared in the chart in April 2017 (in 20th place), it hit the top 10 on 12 occasions. But it had never quite gone all the way, cresting in third in June 2017.

Internationally, Manson has been the beneficiary of myriad celebrity endorsements, including actor Chris Hemsworth—whose Instagram post about The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck boosted the title into the Australian print charts, where it has stayed for more than a year—and Will Smith, who recently announced through Instagram (again) that he and Manson were in the process of writing a book together.

But despite The Subtle Art’s strong print sales in the UK, its greatest success has been in the Audio Download Chart. Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life (currently in fifth place) followed a similar sales trajectory, comfortably charting month in, month out, in the Audible ranking before accelerating into the top spot in February, following a recommendation by YouTuber PewDiePie.

Nielsen Book research has shown that young men are more likely to download audio titles than consume books in any other format, and the Audible
ranking seems to reflect that. In this post-#MeToo world, the self-help book aimed at disenfranchised young men is developing into a trend of its own, and most noticeably in audio—perhaps as a counterpoint to the feminist dystopian fiction thundering into the e-book charts.

Ant Middleton’s First Man In made its début in the Audible chart, barrelling into second place in July, after spending five weeks in the print Hardback Non-fiction top spot across June. In hardback, Middleton was the king of Father’s Day, but his title’s slightly later audio release doesn’t seemed to have hindered its success with a potentially younger male listenership.

July heralded the start of the school summer holidays, and as they are wont to do at such times, the entire Harry Potter series leapt up the chart. The Philosopher’s Stone climbed to fourth place in its 33rd month in the chart, while even The Half-Blood Prince, the series’ lame duck (possibly because
Dumbledore dies), limped to 18th. As usual, J K Rowling’s Millennial-revered series were the only children’s titles to hit the Audible ranking, while the Physical Audio Top 5 wholly comprised pre-school favourites. Just outside the physical top five, Collins’ language audio courses in French, Italian and Spanish suddenly vaulted into the top 10, breaking up the Walliams-opoly. Perhaps audio CD-buyers were preparing to survive some long driving holidays on the continent.