Spotify Adds Audiobooks to Family Plans - A New Benefit

Spotify Expands Premium Audiobook Service with New Subscription Options

Spotify announced an extension of its premium audiobook service on Thursday. This expansion introduces two new plans designed to provide subscribers with increased listening hours and the ability to share access with family members.

Availability and Initial Rollout

Currently, these options are exclusively available to Spotify Premium users located in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. These launches follow initial testing phases conducted in Ireland and Canada.

Previously, U.S. users were able to acquire 15 hours of listening time as a separate purchase through an Audiobooks Access Plan. These new additions now allow subscribers in other regions to tailor their access to better suit their individual requirements.

Introducing Audiobooks+ Plans

The first new plan, Audiobooks+, allows Spotify Premium subscribers, including those managing Family or Duo plans, to add an additional 15 hours of listening each month.

Considering that existing Spotify Premium plans already include 15 hours of audiobook access, this new plan effectively doubles the available listening time. This ensures subscribers can comfortably complete longer audiobooks or enjoy multiple shorter titles within a month.

Shared Access with Audiobooks+ for Plan Members

The second plan, Audiobooks+ for Plan Members, offers a particularly beneficial feature for those wishing to share audiobook access. Members of Premium Family and Duo plans will also gain access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening.

Spotify has indicated that similar plans will be implemented in the U.S. at a later date, as reported by TechCrunch.

How the New Plans Work

To utilize these features, plan members must request audiobook access from the plan manager, who then purchases the add-on. Additionally, members have the option to purchase a one-time top-up of 10 hours if they exhaust their allocated listening time before the next billing cycle.

Pricing for these new options will vary depending on the specific market. A Spotify spokesperson stated that users can find detailed pricing information by visiting the Spotify.com/audiobooks page.

Industry Insights and Future Developments

HarperCollins, a major publisher, revealed in December that Spotify was actively addressing the inclusion of audiobooks for additional family members on shared plans.

HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray mentioned at a conference that the market held significant growth potential. He also noted that Spotify was resolving a “technical issue” that previously restricted audiobook access to the plan’s primary payment holder.

Leveraging AI for Expansion

Spotify is also exploring the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further expand its audiobook offerings. During its last quarterly earnings report, the company announced a collaboration with ElevenLabs to increase the number of narrated books.

This collaboration includes translating texts from English into various other languages.

A Growing Audiobook Catalog and Flexible Access

Spotify’s audiobook catalog currently comprises 375,000 titles. The option to purchase listening hours, rather than individual audiobooks – similar to Amazon’s Audible – allows users to explore a wider range of content.

This approach minimizes the risk of investing in books that may not hold their interest, encouraging experimentation and discovery.