Spotify introduces audiobook service for US users

Spotify Technology SA is locking horns with Amazon.com Inc’s Audible, with the launch of its audiobook service in the United States. Spotify users in the country will have access to over 300,000 audiobook titles, the Swedish firm said in a blog on Tuesday.

Users will be able to browse the catalog on the Spotify app and purchase through the website, it added, similar to the purchase of a Spotify subscription.

According to Spotify, “Audiobooks will show up with a lock icon on the play button, signaling that they need to be purchased in order to listen.” Users will now be able to browse and purchase audiobooks from the store, available on the web version of Spotify. Once you do that, the audiobook will be added to your library, and you can listen to it on your smartphone. They will also get features like a bookmark, speed control and more.

Spotify says that this is just the first iteration of audiobooks, and it will continue to introduce more features and improvements in the future.

The audiobook market was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2021 and was expected to grow at about 14 percent compound annual growth rate to $9.3 billion by 2026, according to media consultancy Omdia.

Spotify has charted an aggressive expansion path as it looks to supplement its earnings from music streaming with other revenue-generating formats such as podcasts, on which it has spent more than $1 billion to add popular names such as Joe Rogan to its roster.

As per the official statement by Spotify,”The offering available today in the U.S. is just the first iteration of audiobooks on Spotify. We’ll learn a lot through this launch and leverage those learnings as we enhance the experience with new features, plan for launches in additional markets, and innovate on the format to benefit listeners, authors, and publishers.”

–With inputs from Reuters

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