Spotify Takes Audiobooks Global With Expansion to 180+ Markets

Spotify is taking its audiobook business to a much larger global audience. The company announced Wednesday that audiobook access is expanding to more than 180 markets worldwide, covering regions across Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

The rollout begins today and will continue over the coming months. Once the expansion is complete, more than 750 million Spotify users will have access to audiobooks, giving the streaming platform a bigger opportunity to compete not only with music services but also with dedicated audiobook platforms such as Audible.

Until now, Spotify’s audiobook offering was concentrated mainly in English-speaking markets, including the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, along with Germany.

For the new markets, Spotify says it has more than 350,000 audiobook titles available across its platform. Its catalog now covers more than 120 languages, helping the company tailor the service to a much wider international audience.

Spain is one example of the expansion. Users there will be able to choose from more than 45,000 titles in Spanish.

Spotify is also working with more than 300 publishers around the world to expand its selection. Partners include publishers such as Planeta and Mondadori, which will help bring more titles to different regional markets.

Multiple Ways to Access Audiobooks

Spotify is offering several ways for users to listen. In eligible countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Chile, Norway, and Peru, Premium subscribers can receive 12 hours of audiobook listening.

Users can also purchase a separate Audiobook+ subscription, which provides access to titles with a 15-hour listening allowance. Those who don’t want a subscription can instead purchase individual audiobook titles directly.

Spotify is planning to expand the options for students as well. The company said it will introduce an Audiobook+ add-on for student plans in select regions in November.

The audiobook business has already started showing significant growth for Spotify. Since its launch last year, Audiobook+ has attracted more than 1 million subscribers and generated more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue for the company.

Spotify Adds More Audiobook Features

The company has also been adding tools designed to make audiobook discovery and listening easier.

In February, Spotify introduced Page Match, a feature that allows users to scan a page from a physical book and find the corresponding point in the audiobook. Spotify said the feature now has around 1 million monthly users.

Audiobook listening overall is also growing. Over the past year, Spotify said its monthly audiobook listeners increased by 40%, while total listening hours climbed by 30%.

The company has continued building around the audiobook category this year. It launched Audiobook Charts to help users discover popular titles and introduced an AI-powered tool that allows authors to turn their books into audiobooks using models from ElevenLabs.

Spotify has also started testing the sale of physical books through its platform in selected markets, including the U.S. and U.K.

With audiobooks now reaching hundreds of millions of additional potential listeners, Spotify is making a much bigger push into a market that sits alongside its core music and podcast businesses.

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