Tag: ABP

Spotify Expands Its Audiobooks Offering To Listeners In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein

April 15, 2025

As the world’s most popular audio-streaming subscription service, Spotify is committed to expanding the audiobook industry, enabling more listeners than ever to discover and engage, and paving the way for future innovation.

We saw early adoption of podcasts and audiobooks in Germany, with labels and fans embracing both formats. Recognizing this potential, we spoke to our users and began innovating and building podcasts globally. 

There’s already a strong appetite for audiobooks across German-speaking markets. With millions of people enjoying audiobooks on Spotify in Germany, we’re excited to enhance this experience by providing a Premium experience for our users of Spotify Individual and Duo or Family Plan Managers.

Today we’re launching an enhanced audiobooks offering in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Eligible Premium listeners in these markets will have access to 350,000 audiobooks, including titles in German, French, and Italian.

Eligible Premium subscribers will receive 12 hours of audiobook listening each month, and additional 10-hour allocations can be purchased as needed from €9.99. Listeners without an eligible Premium subscription will be able to pay to unlock access to individual audiobook titles a la carte. 

Delivering a better listening experience 

In Germany, there’s a rich tradition of storytelling and “Hörspiele” (audio plays), which has paved the way for the popularity of audiobooks. Today, audiobooks are a significant part of the cultural landscape, preserving and promoting literature in a modern format. 

With Audiobooks in Premium, users will find a host of new benefits that will make the listening experience even better. Along with an expanded catalog—which includes titles like Cornelia Funke’s Tintenherz, Caroline Wahl’s 22 Bahnen, and Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing—listeners can:

  • Search more easily via our dedicated Audiobooks tab.
  • Explore recommendations from our Home feed.
  • Access our hub to discover top titles curated by our editorial experts. 
  • Save their progress in an audiobook, ensuring they can easily pick up where they left off during their next listening session. 
  • Pre-save upcoming releases from their favorite authors with Countdown Pages.
  • Use our Spotify Sleep Timer so they don’t lose their place.

“We are turning up the volume on where people are already listening, and getting even more great stories to them with this new catalog and listening experience. In the markets where we have already launched, we’ve already accelerated growth for the audiobook business, and that’s what we’re committed to doing here in Germany and across Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein,” said David Kaefer, VP Audiobooks Business.

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

*Terms apply. 12 hours/month from our subscriber catalog available to Individual and Duo or Family Plan Managers only.

Spotify Invests €1 Million To Help Authors and Publishers Produce More Audiobooks

April 11, 2025

Since entering the audiobooks space in 2022, Spotify has positively impacted the industry, paying out hundreds of millions of dollars to rights holders on an annualized basis. In our more mature markets, audiobooks have also become one of the biggest sources of revenue growth for publishers. 

Our data shows a significant increase in unique listeners who are discovering the magic of audiobooks for the first time via Spotify. By driving discovery and bringing in new audiences, we’re increasing overall audiobook consumption, which provides another avenue of growing revenue for authors and publishers. 

Since launching Audiobooks in France and Benelux last October, we’ve seen an average month-over-month growth of 12% in listeners and listening hours. In France, we are continuing to bring a younger, more diverse audience to audiobooks, with nearly 60% of listeners aged 18 to 34 accounting for over half of all listening hours. 

In order to continue to build opportunities for authors and publishers, especially in countries where the audiobook market isn’t yet mature, we want to support audiobook production. Today  we are announcing that we’re investing €1 million to increase the production of audiobooks in non-English languages, starting with French and Dutch.

This investment reinforces our desire to grow the market for authors and publishers, particularly in markets where audiobooks are still growing as a format, while improving the catalog and consumer experience.

“Our aim is to help create long-term value for the publishing industry and build new revenue streams for partners. To do that we must attract new audiences whilst also retaining existing book lovers, and audiobooks can play a key role in that. But at the heart of that must be great books. With less than 3% of French-language books available in audio format today, this is a great opportunity to help publishers and authors find new readers,” said Jérémy Amsellem, Audiobooks Partnerships and Licensing Manager for Europe.

Helping authors thrive

High production costs and slow market adoption have limited the number of non-English audiobooks available to listeners. In France, for example, there are approximately 750,000 titles in French, but approximately 20,000 audiobooks. In the Netherlands, there are approximately 15,000 audiobooks in Dutch from a total physical catalogue of 209,000.

Spotify believes in the power of human narration, and we will continue to work with partners and the narrator community to bring these titles to fans in French and Dutch languages. But we will also offer Digital Voice Narration as part of this investment to help make audiobook production more cost-effective for those partners who require a lower barrier to entry. For listeners, AI-narrated titles will be clearly identified in the description with “this audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.”

Finally, we know authors and publishers want to reach the widest possible audience. That’s why all cofunded audiobooks will be nonexclusive and made available on Spotify, with the option to host on any other major platform.

We want to create the best possible experience for authors, publishers, and listeners, and this investment marks another important steptoward introducing audiobooks to new audiences, diversifying our catalog, and providing more choices in more languages than ever before.

Discover more about our audiobooks offering at Spotify for Authors.

Bringing More Audiobooks From Independent Authors to Spotify With Ingram Content Group

July 25, 2024

At Spotify, we aim to bring great audiobooks to as many listeners as possible, including those from independent authors. Today we’re announcing a partnership with Ingram Content Group, one of the largest distributors for independent publishers and authors across the globe.

This deal will bring audiobooks from over 100 Ingram-distributed publishers to Spotify, encompassing releases from Europa Editions, Milkweed Editions, G&D Media, Bard Press, New Society Publishers, and more. Titles include the likes of Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s self-narrated collection The Hurting Kind, Mo Bunnell’s forthcoming Give to Grow, and bestselling author Bob Proctor’s Born Rich. In the U.S., listeners can also dive into Damon Galgut’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Promise and Anne Berest’s international bestseller The Postcard, to name a few.

“Our partnership with Ingram Content Group is part of our goal to bring more independent authors to Spotify to get their books heard through our Audiobooks in Premium offering,” said Duncan Bruce, Director, Audiobook Partnerships & Licensing at Spotify. “As one of the biggest distributors for independent publishers around the world, we are excited to have Ingram to help grow the industry and create additional ways for their authors and publishers to reach new audiences.”

“Ingram Content Group is dedicated to bringing more books, in all formats, to more readers,” said Agustina Casal, Ingram Content Group’s Director of Digital Sales and Marketing. “We’re proud to continue to work with Spotify to bring audiobooks of so many independent publishers to the world.”

Since launching our Audiobooks in Premium offering last year, we’re seeing more listeners try new and different books, with hundreds of thousands of unique titles streamed. We’re not only seeing success with bestsellers, but back catalog titles are also gaining popularity. Of the top 10 audiobooks on Spotify, nine are backlist titles, and six of those were released over five years ago.

Head to Spotify to find your next great listen.

A Warm Spotify Welcome to Bonnier Books UK and Blackstone Publishing

May 21, 2024

As Spotify continues to grow its worldwide audience for audiobooks, we’re thrilled to welcome two new publishing partners—Bonnier Books UK and Blackstone Publishing—and their libraries of vibrant, award-winning audio titles to our Audiobooks in Premium offer. Beginning today, Spotify users can discover thousands of new titles that further enrich our diverse collection of audiobooks. 

Based in London, Bonnier Books UK is one of Britain’s leading publishers, with bestselling books for readers and listeners everywhere. Some of the titles coming to our platform include The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christie Lefteri, Parenting Hell by Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett, and Audacity by Katherine Ryan. Blackstone Publishing, meanwhile, is one of the fastest-growing and most-respected publishing houses in the U.S., with multiple New York Times bestsellers, Grammy Award–winning audio productions, and titles included on the New York Times Best Books of the Year list. Among the Blackstone titles soon to be available on Spotify are Whoopi Goldberg’s new memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me; Hell Divers XI: Renegades by Nicholas Sansbury Smith; and Cool Food: Erasing Your Carbon Footprint One Bite at a Time by Robert Downey Jr. and Thomas Kostigen.  

“We want Spotify to be the best place for authors and publishers to get their books heard, and to bring great audio stories to as many people as possible,” said Duncan Bruce, Director, Audiobook Partnerships & Licensing, Spotify. “Our partnerships with Blackstone Publishing and Bonnier Books UK make this a possibility with access to our global audience of more than 615 million users. Since launching Audiobooks in Premium, we’re seeing success with bestsellers, but back catalog titles are also gaining popularity, with 14 of the top 50 Audiobooks in Premium titles having been released before 2020.” 

“One of our core values is that every reader matters, and we are always looking for new ways to broaden the reach of our books to introduce new audiences to our authors’ voices and perspectives,” said Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books UK. “Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium program is another positive step forward for authors and publishers, and we look forward to Bonnier Books UK audiobooks being enjoyed by a new generation of audio listeners.”    

Anthony Goff, President at Blackstone Publishing adds, “This relationship has been years in the making as I’ve been speaking with the great team at Spotify from their earliest days of entertaining a foray into audiobooks. Blackstone Publishing could not be happier to have them as a new partner as we continually look widen the scope of the market and get listening to books the mass appeal that it has always deserved.”

Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium offer gives eligible Spotify Premium subscribers access to 15 hours of audiobook content per month from a catalog of more than 250,000 titles. Since launching last fall, more than a quarter of Spotify Premium users have listened to audiobooks through their subscription, and we’re seeing more listeners try new and different books with more than 150,000 unique titles streamed.

Spotify Premium Listeners in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand Can Soon Access More Than 250,000 Audiobooks

April 2, 2024

Attention booklovers in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand! Listening to your favorite audiobooks is about to get even easier. Beginning April 9, Spotify Premium users in these markets will have access to up to 15 hours of audiobooks per month, seamlessly integrated alongside music and podcasts, on a single platform through a unified subscription. 

Our Premium audiobook catalog, already available in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, is one of the largest subscription-based audiobook-streaming platforms at 250,000 titles and growing—we’re already up from 200,000 titles since late last year. We’re excited for more listeners than ever to discover and engage with books, and to mark the occasion we asked authors from these markets—Canada’s Carley Fortune, New Zealand’s Chloe Gong, and Ireland’s Rosemary Mac Cabe—to share some of their favorites.

Carley Fortune

Canadian Carley Fortune is the best-selling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake. Her new book, This Summer Will Be Different, will be published May 7.

What are three of your favorite audiobooks? 

What do you love most about audiobooks?

I’m not sure if this is a positive trait, but I’m a multitasker, and I love to figure out ways to use my time efficiently. I’m a full-time writer and a parent to two young, energetic boys—I will never be able to read all the books I’d like to, but audiobooks help! I can squeeze in reading while I’m driving or washing the dishes. But it’s not just that audiobooks help me read more. A truly excellent audiobook elevates the reading experience, absorbing you in the story and bringing the emotion to life. And they’re so accessible. Listening to an audiobook is reading: Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

Chloe Gong

Raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe Gong is the best-selling author of the Secret Shanghai novels and the Flesh and False Gods trilogy.

What are three of your favorite audiobooks?

What’s your earliest memory of stories’ being read aloud to you, audiobooks or otherwise?

In primary school, we would read a class-selected book quietly, and then we would come together for the teacher to read it aloud while we sat cross-legged on the mat. It was one of the most joyous parts of my day as a five-year-old. I developed such an appreciation for how class read-aloud time held my attention, and I grew more and more intrigued by the act of storytelling until I became an avid reader myself and eventually an avid writer.

Rosemary Mac Cabe 

Irish author and journalist Rosemary Mac Cabe was raised in Dublin and published her book, This Is Not About You: A Menmoir, in summer 2023.

What are three of your favorite audiobooks?

What’s your earliest memory of books’ being read to you? 

One of the few books from my very early childhood that I remember is Smoke and Fluff, a Ladybird book written and illustrated by AJ McGregor, a fact I didn’t even have to look up because it’s now on nightly rotation in my house. I ordered a secondhand copy online for my two-year-old pretty much the month he was conceived.

Opening it up again after so long was weird, though. I hadn’t seen or read it in probably three decades. I remembered it almost word for word. The illustrations were almost as familiar to me as my childhood bedroom, or a scarf my mum has worn every winter for my whole life.

There’s something about reading this same book—which is quite long, for a children’s book—every single night that reminds me just how much time goes into parenting. It makes me feel close to my own mum, too, who put in this same time, this same love, when she read it to me over and over so many years ago. I live in the U.S. now, while she’s still at home in Ireland, but when I’m reading this it’s like she’s there with us.