Months after launching its streaming audiobook service in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, Spotify reported that users have accessed roughly 90,000 titles, with Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me topping the list of most-listened-to books. Though reps declined to share more specific data, Spotify said in a release that the company has paid out “tens of millions” of dollars to audiobook publishers and that the “early results” show that the company’s audiobook streaming service “is driving a meaningful incremental revenue stream for the publishing community.”
Spotify announced its audiobook streaming service in October 2023, launching first in the U.K. and Australia, followed by a U.S. launch in November. The feature offers Spotify premium subscribers 15 hours of access to digital audiobooks per month, using Spotify’s much-heralded discovery and recommendation features. Subscribers can use the hours however they please—whether sampling across titles in the catalog, or listening to an entire work (15 hours is about enough time to listen to approximately one and a half audiobooks of average length, observers say). Furthermore, a user can pay $10.99 to “top off” with a 10-hour block if they want to keep listening beyond the 15-hour allotment.
While publishers have been bullish on the deal, a number of authors and agents continue to express concerns that the streaming program could negatively impact sales. On background, publishers said it is still early but confirmed that the initial returns have been solid, both in terms of revenue and in terms of reaching new consumers.
