Tag: audiobook countdown pages

6 Spotify Audiobook Features That Level Up Your Listening Experience

November 21, 2024

Since launching our audiobooks offering, we’ve continuously upped our game on designing a user experience that provides seamless and engaging listening. You may be so quick to get into your next “read” on Spotify that you don’t even notice some of the features in the app. ICYMI: Check out the innovations we’ve launched—and are testing—to enhance your audiobooks experience.

1. Author Pages

Currently in pilot mode with a select number of authors, these dedicated profiles for audiobook authors include biographical information about their backgrounds and works. Author Pages will aggregate their entire catalogs available on Spotify, making it easier for you to explore an author’s previous works, as well as new releases on our platform.

2. Sleep Timer for audiobooks

Our built-in Sleep Timer lets you enjoy an audiobook and drift off without having to worry about it continuing on until the end. You can decide how long you want it to play before it automatically stops. For eligible Spotify Premium users who get access to a certain amount of audiobook listening hours a month as part of their subscription, this feature is a great way to ensure you’re catching every minute. Visit this article to learn more about how to make our Sleep Timer part of any bedtime routine. 

3. Video clips for exploring audiobooks 

Fear of commitment? We’re testing a new video feature that allows select authors and publishers to submit a short video about a specific title. This can be an interview snippet, a backstage video from the audio recording session, a video message from the author, or something else. Much like a book’s jacket, these videos give you a taste of an audiobook before pressing play, offering an engaging way to explore and evaluate audiobook offerings.

4. Audiobook Countdown Pages

Countdown Pages allow you to save an audiobook prior to its release date so you can easily find it in your Spotify library once it’s live. Every time you visit the page, you can see how long you have until the title is available. Authors, publishers, and narrators can also use these pages to help promote their upcoming titles ahead of launch. Learn more about how to use this feature here.

5. Follow-Along

We’re also testing a “follow-along” feature on select titles. Follow-Along is an immersive visual experience that allows you to see time-synchronized illustrations, photos, and graphics (think: the supporting material usually included in paper books) as you listen to an audiobook. These listening enhancements that help contextualize a story are available in the “extras” section of the audiobook.

6. Audiobook playlists

Track all the books you want to read—old favorites, new discoveries—with our audiobook playlists. These curations can help you keep your library organized, and be a place for you to aggregate the audiobooks on your reading list. You’ll also find editorial playlists created by our audiobook team that highlight and categorize recommendations.

Now pull up your app and find your next audiobook obsession here.

Never Miss a New Release With Countdown Pages for Audiobooks

May 6, 2024

Spotify is making it easier for booklovers to count down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until a new audiobook releases. With Countdown Pages for audiobooks, listeners can pre-save audiobooks prior to a book’s release date—and authors, publishers, and narrators can promote their upcoming titles ahead of launch. This new feature will help ensure that users never miss their next great audiobook listens and help authors and publishers drive streams. 

We’ve seen the success and momentum Countdown Pages can have for musical artists and fans, with artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Justin Timberlake, Kacey Musgraves, Billie Eilish, and others trying it out for album launches with great results: On average, nearly 70% of users who pre-save an album listen to it in the first week. We’re now excited to introduce this feature to another content vertical on Spotify as part of our ongoing effort to improve the overall experience for our users.

How to use Countdown Pages for audiobooks

Beginning today, you can try out Countdown Pages for audiobooks by following these simple steps: 

  1. Search for the title of an upcoming audiobook on Spotify, or browse our editorial “Coming Soon” shelf in the audiobooks section.
  2. Click the “pre-save” button on the audiobook’s Spotify page and see the timer count down to its release. 
  3. We’ll then add the audiobook to your Spotify library and notify you as soon as it’s released.
  4. You can also view the “More like this” tab to browse similar books that you can start listening to right away. 

Countdown Pages for audiobooks is available to both free and Premium users in all markets where Spotify audiobooks are available.