Yesterday (October 3), Spotify announced that premium subscribers in certain countries will receive 15 hours of free audiobook streaming per month. According to a report from NME, the feature has launched in Australia and the UK, and is set to launch in the US by the end of the year.
Spotify is primarily a music streaming platform, however, with the launch of the new feature, many Spotify users have questions about Spotify’s audiobook collection and how to listen to these books.
Do you have to pay for audiobooks on Spotify?
Spotify began carrying audiobooks last September, but at the time of their arrival to the streaming platform, they weren’t free. All users, including premium users, had to pay by the book to listen to each title.
According to a press release, Spotify currently carries “upwards of 70% of bestselling books, with titles from major publishers including Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and RB Media, as well as independent authors and publishers globally, including Bolinda, Dreamscape, and Pushkin.” Spotify users can begin streaming audiobooks by selecting books marked with “Included With Premium.”
Other titles, as well as the premium titles, will be included in the Spotify library for purchase as à la carte titles.
You can see a trailer for the new feature above.