Spotify Premium Users Might Get Free Audiobooks Soon
Spotify is planning to offer paid subscribers free access to audiobooks.
The streaming service is working with some of the largest publishers in the United States on a new pilot program that would allow paid Spotify subscribers to also stream up to 20 hours of audiobook content for free each month, says The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
The move will allow Spotify to better compete with services like Amazon’s Audible. Spotify executives have reportedly told some publishers that participating in Spotify’s audiobook program would help fight against Amazon’s current stronghold in the space.
Spotify purchased digital audiobook distributor Findaway in June of last year, andbegan selling audiobooks on the platform in September. While customers could listen to short audio samples of the books for free, to listen to an entire title they would need to purchase the book from Spotify.
The new program would change all that and instead allow Spotify customers to stream 20 hours of audiobooks, more than many users might typically stream books they purchased outright over a month.
The move may also help increase Spotify’s profits, a growing concern for the service.
Earlier this week, Spotify put song lyrics, which have been free on the platform for everyone since 2021, behind a paywall, requiring users to subscribe to its Premium tier to view them. The company also recently announced plans to ban white noise podcasters from its ads programs starting October 1.
In July, Spotify raised the price of its Premium plans across the board. A single Premium account currently runs $10.99 a month.
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