Spotify Launches the Audiobook Section in the US

Spotify is about much more than music now. It has made an enormous job to develop its podcast section, but there’s no stopping. The next big update is the launch of an audiobook section that’s already available for its American users. The huge audio library, though, will not be available for free, no matter which plan you’re on.

The audiobook catalog has over 300,000 titles, including both classical and fresh books, narrated by professional voicing actors or authors themselves. This massive launch hasn’t been heavily advertised and came as a surprise for most users. But indeed, it’s logical for Spotify to enter this market as it expands its presence on the market of anything audio.

Along with the content itself, Spotify has introduced a new interface for this section. It’s optimized for the best audiobook experience, with offline listening, speed options, bookmarks, and ratings. This makes audiobooks on Spotify a social experience as well; the rates will be used for generating curated recommendations. This is what made Spotify such a great music recommendation service, and this will surely help users to discover many titles they’d otherwise miss.

What’s a bit disappointing for most users is that Spotify audiobooks will not be available under the basic subscription. Books need to be bought individually; once bought, a book will remain in the user’s collection and available for offline listening. It’s not clear whether Spotify will also introduce any subscription model for its audiobook section; if it does, it won’t be any time soon anyway.

What service do you prefer for audiobooks? Will you explore the Spotify catalog for titles you’d like to purchase? And what do you think about its competitive chances? We’d like to read your opinion down here in the comments section!