Klangkantine becomes Audatio – more services, international perspective

With Audatio GmbH, Klangkantine is taking its audiobook and audio drama business to the next stage: expanding its services for publishers and strengthening its international focus. Narrafix will become part of Audatio while continuing as an independent software brand. Jörg Peters joins the management team as Chief Strategy Officer.

Darmstadt, September 9, 2026 – Klangkantine Audiobooks will operate under the Audatio name going forward. The relevant business units will be transferred to Audatio GmbH and continued there by legal succession. This is not a sale to a third party: relationships with more than 500 publishers and individual clients, ongoing productions, and all existing contacts will remain unchanged.

Broader capabilities, stronger international focus

With Audatio, the existing production business is also evolving strategically. The launch marks a broader transformation encompassing the brand, corporate structure, range of services, and management team. Going forward, the company will work with publishers not only as a production house, but as a partner across the entire journey of a title.

Audatio supports publishers and rights holders from title assessment, script preparation, casting, direction, and production through to post-production, quality assurance, metadata, delivery, and settlement. Publishers can commission individual services, hand over the full production of a title, or entrust Audatio with an entire program.

Audatio combines Klangkantine’s production and casting expertise, built since 2009, with the digital tools of Narrafix and other proprietary applications. Human-narrated audiobooks and audio dramas remain at the heart of the business.

At the same time, the business has become increasingly international in recent years. Narrafix software is now used by publishers, production houses, and individual users in more than ten countries, while the share of foreign-language titles produced for European publishers has steadily increased. Building on these established relationships, Audatio will gradually expand its production and publishing partnerships beyond the German-speaking market.

“A great audiobook is not simply the result of a recording. It comes from decisions that bring together the content, the audience, the voice, and the publisher’s strategy,” says Chris Kling, Founder and CEO of Audatio. “We believe that human interpretation will become an increasingly important mark of quality as the market grows and content becomes more interchangeable. Our technology is not designed to replace that work, but to make it better.”

Jörg Peters appointed Chief Strategy Officer

This broader positioning is also reflected in the management team. From October on Jörg Peters joins the leadership team as Chief Strategy Officer. Peters brings more than 15 years of experience across streaming, marketing, distribution, and audio publishing, including roles at Universal Music and Apple.

Together with Chris Kling, he will be responsible for market positioning, product development, international partnerships, marketing, and the continued expansion of Audatio’s services for publishers.

“Audio has long become more than the production of individual titles for publishers,” says Jörg Peters. “What matters is understanding programs as a whole and making the right editorial, creative, and commercial decisions for every project. With Audatio, we want to support publishers for the long term – from the first idea and casting through to the finished product and beyond.”

Narrafix remains an independent software brand

Audio technology company Narrafix will become part of Audatio GmbH while continuing to operate as an independent software brand. Its applications will remain available separately to publishers, production houses, studios, and narrators. Developed around the practical requirements of day-to-day audiobook production, the tools simplify recurring tasks in audio editing, proofing, corrections, and technical finishing.

Narrafix co-founders Johannes Schwenk and Domenic Heyer will also assume responsibility for Audatio’s digital technology offering. As Chief Technology Officer, Johannes Schwenk will oversee the company’s overall technological development. As Head of Development, Domenic Heyer will focus in particular on the development of Audatio’s core algorithms and data-driven technologies.

This extends the technological expertise developed at Narrafix across Audatio’s broader offering, while maintaining the distinct roles of the individual brands.

“Our audiobooks are brought to life by people. Our technology helps make the technical processes behind them clearer, faster, and more reliable,” says Johannes Schwenk, CTO of Audatio. “It takes care of repetitive work and gives production teams more room to focus on casting, direction, and interpretation.”

Audatio to launch at the Frankfurt Book Fair

Audatio will make its first appearance under the new name at the Frankfurt Book Fair from October 7 to 11, 2026. The company will be exhibiting in Hall 4.1, Stand J23.

A launch event will also take place at the fair on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the Audio Experience Area, Hall 4.0, Stand J9.

About Audatio

Audatio GmbH, based in Darmstadt, Germany, is an independent partner for audiobook and audio drama production. Audatio grew out of production house Klangkantine, founded in 2009, and combines 17 years of production experience with proprietary digital tools.

Audatio supports projects from title assessment, script preparation, and casting through direction and production to post-production, quality assurance, metadata, delivery, and settlement. A particular focus lies on human narration and a curated pool of more than 1,200 professional voices.

Audiobook production software Narrafix continues to operate as an independent brand within Audatio GmbH. It supports publishers, production houses, studios, and narrators with repetitive tasks throughout audiobook production and helps bring these processes together in a unified workflow.