During an event held in New York, Spotify announced some significant news. For all subscribers Premium the doors of the audiobooks – a total of 150,000 – at no additional cost. The service debuts today in the UK and Australia, but will later be rolled out to other markets.
For Spotify Premium users a vast catalog of audiobooks at no additional cost
After acquiring Findaway, Spotify first launched audiobooks last year (September 2022), in the US, with a library of more than 300,000 titles. However, using the service immediately showed some difficulties, as the company attempted to bypass app store regulations related to in-app purchases by requiring users to purchase audiobooks from the Spotify website. And there was also the problem of payments through third-party services, i.e. different from those provided by the App Store and Play Store.
Today is a big, big day for @Spotify. And for book lovers everywhere. Audiobooks are coming to Spotify Premium! 🎧📚 pic.twitter.com/8tXscYebl5
— Daniel Ek (@eldsjal) October 3, 2023
With the integration of audiobooks in the Premium plan however, everything is simpler. This innovation will increase user engagement with Spotify and will reduce the abandonment rate of the platform, according to Ek. In economic terms, then, they are expected increases in revenue and profits.
However, reading is not unlimited: Premium subscribers will be able to listen to any audiobook of the 150,000 available, but only for a maximum of 15 hours per month. It is no coincidence that a paid “integration” of 10 hours was also announced.
Spotify will also take care of providing advice, some of which are customized based on user tastes. «The platform will offer editorial advice, curated by a team of experts. They will appear in the audiobook hub», explained David Kaefer, VP of Spotify.
As for the authors, they will have access to new tools, including promotional cards that can be customized with visual elements. Subsequently, tools will also be available to them to take a look at the progress of their books.
