Update: 27/11/2022 – On Tuesday 22nd November, Spotify announced that audiobooks are also now available for purchase in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Spotify launches Audiobooks in US where Spotify listeners will be able to purchase and listen to more than 300,000 audiobook titles. The new service comes with a brand-new user interface that’s geared specifically for listening to audiobooks and fits them seamlessly alongside the music and podcasts available in the apps.
Nir Zicherman, Spotify’s Vice President and Global Head of Audiobooks and Gated Content said, “We’ve always believed that the potential for audio is limitless, and we’ve been saying for a while now that our ambition is to be the complete package for everyone’s listening needs. Audiobooks are next to come into the picture because we see a substantial untapped market: While audiobooks represent just a 6%–7% share of the wider book market, the category is growing by 20% year over year.”
Audiobooks will show up with a lock icon on the play button, signalling that they need to be purchased in order to listen. Users who discover audiobooks in the Spotify app will be able to purchase them on a web page. Upon returning to Spotify, the book will be automatically saved in their library and available to listen to whenever they want. Listeners to audiobooks do not need to purchase a Premium plan and subscribers who have a family plan will only be able to listen to an audiobook on their individual account.
Listeners can download content for offline listening, and Spotify’s automatic bookmarking feature saves their place so they can easily pick up where they left off. Speed control is also included, with a variety of options to speed up or slow down the pace. And for listeners who want to share their opinion after listening to a book, there is a rating feature, which will publicly display the aggregate rating of the book.
The offering available today in the US is the first iteration of audiobooks on Spotify and there are plans for launches in additional markets and further innovations to the format to benefit listeners, authors, and publishers.
To visit Spotify’s Audiobooks hub go here.
