Spotify Delivers Growth for the Publishing Industry: Audiobooks Sales Continue to Grow

Since Audiobooks in Premium launched on Spotify in 2023, we’ve seen strong growth all around, with our catalog of English-language audiobooks nearly tripling in size to more than 400,000 titles.

And the number of audiobooks listeners and listening hours increased by more than 30% and 35% year-over-year, respectively, in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. More recently, since the launch of audiobooks in France and the Benelux last year, we’ve also seen audiobook listeners in those countries grow by a monthly average of 12%.

Much of this growth is driven by users who were listening to an audiobook for the very first time. This isn’t just (really) cool — we believe it’s playing a key role in the sales of the publishing industry overall.

A newly released survey by the Audiobook Publishers Association shows that audiobook sales grew by 13% in 2024, with 99% of the revenues generated by digital audiobooks.  

More specifically, our publishing partners are seeing growth and are citing Spotify as a key contributor to that growth.

• U.K. publisher Bloomsbury reported that audio sales during its 2025 fiscal year “grew 57 percent in part driven by our new commercial relationship with Spotify.”
• French publisher Lagadere mentioned in its 2024 financial report that “digital sales grew significantly in the audio segment (up 38%), driven by a new partnership with Spotify.”
• U.S. publisher HarperCollins has also said that in the fourth quarter of 2024, audiobook sales rose by 13% compared to Q4 2023, with parent company News Corp pointing out our entrance into the audiobook market as a catalyst for that growth.

We want to help the industry maintain this momentum by introducing even more listeners to the world of audiobooks. And we’ll do that by continuing to provide the best experience for authors, publishers, and listeners alike. So far, we’ve done this by: 

• Growing our overall audiobooks catalog
• Expanding into new markets and languages
• Investing in audiobook production for rising markets
• Offering support and resources for independent authors
• Forging partnerships with major publishers
• Improving discovery and the listening experience
• Bringing authors and publishers together through industry talks and conferences

Audiobooks have the power to transform the way stories are told and enjoyed, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this revolution.

Find your next great read by browsing the Audiobooks hub on Spotify.