Spotify is hoping to jump-start its push into audiobooks — announcing that paying subscribers can access up to 15 hours free listening per month from among 150,000 titles.
A year ago, the audio streamer announced that users would be able to purchase and listen to 300,000 audiobooks on Spotify. Spotify’s entry into the audiobook market came after closing its acquisition for audiobook distributorFindawayin June 2022,paying about $119 million in cash for the company.
about half of that catalog will be available as part of Spotify Premium subscriptions. Initially, the company is offering all Premium individual accounts, as well as plan managers for Family and Duo accounts, 15 hours of listening per month. The feature will be available for Premium users in the U.K. and Australia starting tomorrow, with the U.S. following later this year.
The idea seems to be to give Spotify Premium customers a small taste of audiobooks, in the hopes they’ll become hooked and purchase additional titles on an a-la-carte basis.
“We believe that offering personalized music, podcasts, and audiobooks on a single platform gives you a superior way to connect with your favorite artists, podcasters, creators, and authors — all in one spot,” Spotify said in announcing the launch. “Not only can you listen to some of your favorite authors’ works, but you can also tune into podcasts where fans dissect the most minor details of a story and find the hidden meaning in every sentence, without leaving the app.”
Any audiobook that is marked “Included in Premium” is available within the Spotify Premium catalog. In addition, users with Premium audiobook access can download audiobooks for offline listening. Spotify includes an automatic bookmarking feature that saves your place so you can pick up where you left off.
The company said its audiobook selections currently encompass upwards of 70% of bestselling books with titles from major publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster and RB Media, as well as independent authors and publishers globally, including Bolinda, Dreamscape and Pushkin.
