Audio has been around since, I suppose, the spoken language. The difference now is distribution and availability. Audiobooks, podcasts, smart phones, voice controlled home speaker systems, connected cars, and who knows what will come next.
Maybe it's a personal preference but I'm into the atmosphere. [ https://youtu.be/IInkT6n-NiM ]
Maybe I just lived in the city too long but I can't get enough of the birds. "You'd think I live in the bird...
Gone are the days when a publisher could take out an ad, count on a few reviews, and have an author do a couple...