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The music streaming giant announced its rumored audiobook initiative, launching a store that includes more than 300,000 titles, including popular ones such as Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and “It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover.
Spotify users in the United States now have access to more than 300,000 audiobook titles, the Swedish firm said in a blog post on Tuesday. They can browse the catalog in the Spotify app and shop through the website, similar to purchasing a Spotify subscription.
The audiobook market was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of around 14% expected to reach $9.3 billion in 2026, according to media consultancy Omdia.
“We’ve always believed that the potential of audio is limitless, and we’ve long said our ambition is to be the complete package for everyone’s listening needs,” said Nir Zicherman, Spotify’s vice president and global head of audiobooks.
Spotify is looking to expand and supplement its revenue from music streaming with other revenue-generating formats, such as podcasts, on which it has spent more than $1 billion to add popular names like Joe Rogan to its roster.
“Audiobooks are next on the scene because we see a substantial untapped market: while audiobooks make up only 6-7% of the overall book market, the category is growing 20% year over year,” he added.
Initially, Spotify will sell the audiobooks individually, not by subscription, at prices “competitive” with other sellers.
According to a spokesperson, “after evaluating user testing and research, we found that the best starting offer would allow users to purchase books individually,” a policy that “allows pricing flexibility and allows more casual listeners to access to audiobooks easily.
With Reuters and AP
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