In US, Spotify Adds Audiobooks

Authors and agents ask whether streaming audiobooks will devalue reading and harm book buying.

In early October, streaming music giant Spotify announced it would soon launch an audiobook service across several key markets. The program has since debuted in the U.K. and Australia, and this week, the service launched in the U.S.

Publishers have welcomed the Spotify move to include audiobooks in its subscription service, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly executive editor. However, he notes that some authors and literary agents are asking questions.

“Authors and agents remain skeptical of the program, saying they were not consulted before the program was launched,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “They also are questioning the payment structure, and more broadly, whether streaming audiobooks will be good for the book business, or whether it devalues reading and harms book buying.”

Spotify’s streaming audiobook service, now available the U.S., allows Spotify premium subscribers to access a catalog of more than 200,000 audiobook titles—including titles from all the Big Five publishers. 

“Spotify officials say the U.S. catalog includes 70% of current bestsellers,” Albanese notes. “Penguin Random House, for instance, have put all their titles in, while other publishers are ‘windowing’ some titles.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Velocity of Content” features the editors and reporters of Publishers Weekly for an early look at what news publishers, editors, authors, agents, and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.