Since its launch just over a year ago, Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium feature has introduced the audiobook format to a new audience across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. More listeners are exploring audiobooks for the first time, embracing a wide range of titles, with hundreds of thousands of unique books streamed.
Now, Spotify is excited to expand access to audiobooks in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This includes work from renowned local authors such as Gaël Faye, Maylis de Kerangal, Joël Dicker, Suzanne Vermeer, and Saskia Noort.
Eligible Spotify Premium subscribers in these regions will be able to access over 200,000 audiobook titles as part of their subscriptions. Any audiobook not included in the Audiobooks in Premium offering can be purchased separately, and non-Premium listeners also have the option to purchase individual titles.
In collaboration with local publishers, Spotify—recognized as the world’s leading audio streaming subscription service—aims to grow the audiobook industry further. By enabling more listeners to discover and engage with a diverse catalog of titles, including those in their native languages, Spotify is fostering innovation and expanding the reach of audiobooks.
One year into Audiobooks in Premium Although still in its early days, the response to Audiobooks in Premium from authors, publishers, and listeners in available markets has been outstanding. In the U.S., listeners who start an audiobook on Spotify are spending an average of five additional hours on the platform in the first two months after starting a book.
This latest expansion not only creates new opportunities for local authors and rights holders but also provides a new revenue stream for the industry. With 28% of Spotify’s users in Europe, Spotify continues to invest in growing both the audience and revenue potential for publishers and authors.
Spotify announced this latest expansion in Paris, where industry experts such as Laure Saget, CEO of Hachette’s Audiolib, Liza Faja, Head of Lizzie, and Timothée Borne, CEO of Blynd Media, gathered to discuss the future of audiobooks in the region.
