How It Works
Audiobook ASIN: What It Is and Where to Find It
Your audiobook ASIN is the 10-character code in an Amazon link. Learn where to find it and why the same link can open a different narrator or edition.
An ASIN is Amazon's 10-character product code, short for Amazon Standard Identification Number. Amazon says each new product detail page gets one. You can read it in the page's Product Details, and in the link itself, where it follows amazon.com/dp/. Amazon Associates help lists the ASIN as a product-page field and documents that link pattern.
Where to find the ASIN on Amazon and Audible
If you have a link in hand, look at the part after /dp/. That string of ten letters and numbers is the code. If you only have the product page open, you can read it there instead.
On Amazon, the steps are short:
- Open the product page.
- Select the format you care about at the top of the page, such as Audible audiobook or Kindle.
- Scroll to Product Details and read the ASIN.
- Or read it from the address bar, after
/dp/.
On Audible, open the title's own page and read the identifier and the details listed there. Audible product addresses commonly carry a 10-character code that looks like an ASIN, and the two companies run connected catalogs. ACX, the Audible-Amazon platform for audiobook creators, tells them to claim an audiobook project using the ASIN of the related Amazon ebook. Amazon's ACX distribution help covers the same ground.
One caution in a single clause: copy the code from the page you have open, and do not try to work it out from a code on a different page. Each listing carries its own.
Why the same link can show a different recording
The code points to one catalog entry. Entries differ by edition, format, publisher, language and territory, so two entries for "the same book" can be two different products. Several of Amazon's and Audible's own help pages show this.
Audible's Read & Listen guidance says the Kindle ebook and the Audible audiobook have to be the same edition. It also says a different publisher or a different language can stop the two from pairing. So, even when the title matches, the entry underneath can be another product.
Territory matters too. Audible's conditions of use say content can be limited by territory. So, a title you can open in one country's store may be missing in another, or may be a different listing.
On the Amazon side, parent and child ASINs group related products. A child differs from its siblings by defined attributes, and the parent connects them. Amazon also says that multiple sellers share one detail page. The practical result is simple. A format switcher or an "other formats and editions" panel showing a related product does not tell you that it has the same narrator, publisher or recording. Select the format you want, then check the details below.
One listener's report
A listener on r/audible reported that Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living changed from an Andrew Macmillan narration to a Robert Petkoff narration in the UK store. Commenters in that thread discuss licensing and regional differences. It is one person's report, and it is not Amazon's catalog rule, but it shows why the narrator line is worth reading before you buy or share.
The recording check
Before you buy, or before you send a link to someone, read these off the listing:
- Title
- Author
- Narrator
- Listening length
- Release date
- Language
- Abridged or unabridged
- Publisher
- Version
- The ASIN
Any one of these can differ between two entries for the same book. Narrator and listening length are usually the quickest pair to compare.
Take Mere Christianity. On Audible's US search results, the title shows up as two separate listings:
- Julian Rhind-Tutt: 7 hrs and 6 mins, released 05-13-14
- Geoffrey Howard: 5 hrs and 52 mins, released 12-26-04
Same book title, two listings, and a gap of more than an hour between them. The narrator and the length are what tell them apart. For a closer look at how those two recordings compare, see the Mere Christianity audiobook narrator page.
If you are sharing a link with a friend, send them the narrator's name along with it. That one extra line saves a "wait, mine sounds different" conversation.
ISBN versus ASIN
Audiobooks can carry ISBNs. The International ISBN Agency lists audiobooks on physical carriers, and audiobooks available for download or streaming, as eligible. ISBN.org likewise says an ISBN can identify an audiobook.
Each edition and format can have its own ISBN. The publisher gets it by applying to the national ISBN agency for the country where the publisher is based, as the International ISBN Agency's how to get an ISBN page describes.
The ASIN is Amazon's own catalog code, so a library catalog may not index it. If you are searching a library, use the ISBN, the title, the author or the narrator. The Library of Congress searches both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13, and WorldCat advanced search includes ISBN.
Neither code by itself tells you whether the audio performance changed. For that, you still compare the narrator, length and release date on the listing.
Frequently asked questions
What is an ASIN number?
It is Amazon's Amazon Standard Identification Number, a unique 10-character code for a product in its store. Amazon says each new product detail page receives one. An audiobook listing, a Kindle ebook and a paperback of the same title each have their own.
Where do I find my ASIN number?
On an Amazon product page, select the format and look under Product Details. You can also read it from the link, in the part after /dp/. On Audible, open the title's own page and read the identifier and details shown there.
How do I look up an Amazon ASIN number?
Put the code into the direct-link pattern, amazon.com/dp/ followed by the ASIN, and the product page opens. For Audible, Audible's help walks through searching for a title and opening its detail page. Search by title and narrator, then read the details on the page that opens.
Do audiobooks have ISBNs?
Yes. The International ISBN Agency names audiobooks on physical carriers and audiobooks available for download or streaming as eligible. The publisher applies to its national ISBN agency, and each edition and format can have its own number.
Check the recording, then the code
The code gets you to a listing; the narrator, length and release date tell you which recording it is. For a worked comparison, read the Mere Christianity audiobook narrator page.
By Cal Hewitt. Published .