Poetry Archive

What Poetry Archive does

The Poetry Archive is a UK-registered charity (Charity No. 1093858) founded in 1999 by Sir Andrew Motion and producer Richard Carrington, incorporated and launched in 2001. It is the only not-for-profit organisation wholly dedicated to producing, acquiring, and preserving audio recordings of significant poets reading their own work aloud. The archive is administered from Exeter, England, with a small core team of approximately seven staff led by Director Tracey Guiry.

The platform is a WordPress-based digital archive offering free streaming access to selected recordings alongside paid membership for the full catalogue. It currently holds 10,765 poems across 586 poets and attracts roughly 5 million visits per year, with mobile and tablet optimisation and a separate Children's Poetry Archive subdomain. Notable features include MyArchive (personal collection building and sharing), curated themed Collections (e.g., British Sign Language Poetry, Obsidian Collection, BBC 100, Poets Laureate), an educational Glossary, and video Interviews with poets. Poet compensation is built into the model: 67% of download revenue is paid as royalties to rights holders.

The business model is freemium with three primary revenue streams: annual memberships (Explorer at £10 for 10 credits; Collector at £25 for 25 credits, with each poem valued at £0.89), individual album and poem purchases (£8.90 per album), and charitable donations plus corporate sponsorship packages. Unused credits expire after 12 months and are treated as donations. Institutional funding supplements earned income from Arts Council England (as a National Portfolio Organisation), the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the T S Eliot Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn, Garfield Weston, the Department for Education, the British Council, Heritage Compass, and Archives Revealed. Customer segments span poetry enthusiasts, teachers, students, children, and corporate sponsors across global English-speaking markets.

Name

Poetry Archive

Legal name

Poetry Archive

Website

https://poetryarchive.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Poetry Archive is a UK-registered charity that produces, acquires, and preserves audio recordings of poets reading their own work. It serves poetry enthusiasts, educators, students, and children worldwide via a freemium digital platform hosting 10,765 poems by 586 poets and attracting 5 million visits annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Audio Poetry Archive

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Libraries and Archives (519210), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Media Archives, Libraries & Content Preservation (MPABADAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Reissues, Remastering & Archive Services (MPAIAAAG)

Keywords

• Poetry recordings archive
• Audio poetry preservation
• Digital poetry platform
• Poetry education resources
• Poet royalty payments

Headquarters

HQ city

Stroud

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership at Explorer (£10 credits) and Collector (£25 credits) levels. Credits allow download of poems at £0.89 per poem. 67% of download revenue goes to poets as royalties.
2. Individual Downloads: Poems and albums available for individual purchase. Albums priced at £8.90. Revenue split 67% to rights holders.
3. Charitable Donations: Donations from supporters, patrons, and corporate sponsors. Corporate sponsorship packages available for branding and client engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Poetry Archive is a not-for-profit digital archive that produces, acquires and preserves audio recordings of significant poets reading their own work aloud. The platform offers free streaming access to a curated selection of recordings, with paid membership (Explorer and Collector tiers) unlocking full catalogue downloads at £0.89 per poem. 67% of download revenue is paid directly to poets as royalties.

Product overview

The Poetry Archive is a single unified digital platform dedicated to preserving and sharing audio recordings of poets reading their own work aloud. The core offering is the main Poetry Archive website featuring over 10,000 free poems from 500+ poets, complemented by the Children's Poetry Archive subdomain for young readers. The platform operates on a freemium model where basic streaming is free, while paid memberships (Explorer and Collector tiers) provide download credits. Additional features include MyArchive for personal collections, themed Collections, an educational Glossary, and video Interviews with poets. Founded in 1999 and incorporated in 2001, the archive has grown to attract approximately 5 million visitors annually and maintains 83 curated collections.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Children's Poetry Archive: A dedicated section of the Poetry Archive showcasing the best of children's poetry, allowing children to explore poetry in their own time and at their own pace. Supported by the T S Eliot Foundation.

Products and services

• The Poetry Archive The primary digital archive platform offering free streaming access to audio recordings of significant poets reading their own work aloud, with over 10,765 poems from 586 poets attracting 5 million annual visitors. Full catalogue downloads available via paid membership.
• Children's Poetry Archive A dedicated subdomain (childrens.poetryarchive.org) showcasing age-appropriate children's poetry with teaching resources, allowing children to explore poetry at their own pace and engendering a lifelong love of poetry. Supported by the T S Eliot Foundation.
• Membership Plans (Explorer and Collector) Paid annual membership tiers providing download credits (10 for Explorer at £10, 25 for Collector at £25) to download poems from the catalogue at £0.89 each. 67% of revenue is paid to poets as royalties. Unused credits expire after 12 months.
• Individual Album Purchase Full poetry albums available for individual purchase at £8.90 each, with 67% royalty paid to rights holders. Available to members and non-members on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 67% of download revenue goes directly to poets as royalties
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered key.

• British CouncilkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the Shakespeare 400 Collection, supporting the recording and presentation of sonnets as part of the Shakespeare Lives 2016 programme.
• British Deaf AssociationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with the Poetry Archive to celebrate and share British Sign Language poetry and work of Deaf Laureates.
• Obsidian FoundationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Obsidian Collection to recognise and share poetry exploring Black heritage, community, culture, history and identity.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• British Library Sound Archive: National sound and recorded speech archive within the British Library, holding historic and contemporary recordings. Comparable mandate for cultural-heritage preservation of audio recordings, though broader scope (oral history, music, wildlife) and publicly funded at much larger scale.
• Library of Congress Poetry Archive: US national library's poetry and literary holdings, including recordings and special collections. Comparable institutional mission of preserving literary heritage and providing access, though operating at vastly larger scale and as part of a national library system.
• BBC Archive (Poetry & Spoken Word): BBC's national broadcast archive containing historic poetry readings and literary recordings. Adjacent to Poetry Archive's preservation mission at vastly greater scale and with established broadcaster-distribution infrastructure; an ecosystem participant and potential partnership route.

Emerging players

• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library preserving web pages, audio recordings, video, and books in a free, publicly accessible archive. Overlapping mission of cultural preservation and open access to audio/creative content, with some poetry and spoken-word material in its collections.
• Chatterbox Audio (Canadian poetry charity): Smaller audio poetry charity operating in North America with recording-preservation mission. Niche peer with similar nonprofit structure and dedication to poet audio capture, providing a regional/emerging counterpart to the UK-based Poetry Archive.

Direct peers

• Poetry Foundation: US-based nonprofit literary organisation dedicated to poetry, publishing Poetry magazine and operating an extensive online poetry archive. Most direct peer: overlapping mission of preserving and disseminating poetry, comparable nonprofit structure, audience of poetry enthusiasts, students, and educators.
• National Poetry Library (Southbank Centre): UK-based lending library devoted to modern poetry, hosted by the Southbank Centre. Direct peer in mission and audience (poetry enthusiasts, educators, students), though the collection is print-focused while Poetry Archive is audio-focused; together they represent complementary pillars of UK poetry infrastructure.
• Academy of American Poets: Nonprofit organisation promoting poetry in the US through Poets.org, Poem-a-Day, and educational programming. Direct peer serving poetry enthusiasts and educators with free poetry content, curriculum resources, and poet features - closely aligned to Poetry Archive's educational and accessibility mission.

Regional players

• National Recording Registry (Library of Congress): US national programme preserving historically significant sound recordings. Comparable preservation mandate for recorded audio heritage; complementary rather than directly competing, but operating as the US counterpart in the audio-preservation ecosystem Poetry Archive serves in the UK.

Others

• Audioboo / Audio Platform Archives: Audio-first platforms hosting spoken-word and poetry content. Not a direct nonprofit peer but an enabling infrastructure layer that competes for poetry-listening attention and could be a distribution partner for Poetry Archive content.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/poetryarchive
• Facebookfacebook.com/PoetryArchive
• Instagraminstagram.com/thepoetryarchive
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-poetry-archive

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Poetry Archive