Tag: audiobooks

10 Great Musical Biographies That Tell the Stories Behind Your Favorite Artists

September 29, 2023

Spotify Premium Audiobooks Music Biography

You might know all the songs and albums of your favorite musicians, but do you know the experiences and inspirations behind their work? Luckily, you can find out by listening to some great musical biographies on Spotify. 

With picks that include memoirs from legendary stars including Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish, Gucci Mane, and Dolly Parton, you can discover all the wisdom these greats have to share. 

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Written and narrated by Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl’s autobiography, The Storyteller, sheds light on what it’s like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, who goes on to live out his craziest dreams as a musician. The rock icon reflects on everything from hitting the road with Scream at 18, to his time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. He remembers jamming with Iggy Pop and dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He tells stories about drumming for Tom Petty and meeting Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall. Grohl even recounts unexpected moments like bedtime stories with Joan Jett to a chance meeting with Little Richard. 

The Sporty One: My Life as a Spice Girl

Written and narrated by Melanie Chisholm

After five women answered a newspaper ad, the Spice Girls were born. They recorded their first single, “Wannabe,” and nearly overnight, Melanie “Melanie C” Chisholm went from small-town girl to Sporty Spice.

The Sporty One follows the meteoric rise of Melanie C and The Spice Girls, from the incredible highs of playing at Wembley, conquering the BRITs, and closing the 2012 Olympics, to the difficult lows. For the first time ever, Melanie C talks about the pressures of fame, the shaming and bullying she experienced, the struggles she has had with her body image and mental health, and the difficulty of finding herself when the whole world knew her name.

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics

Written by Dolly Parton, Robert K. Oermann

Narrated by Dolly Parton 

Dolly Parton, Songteller goes beyond the glitz, glamor, and rhinestones to the warmth, heart, and soul of a treasured pop culture icon. In this autobiography, 10-time Grammy Award–winning artist Dolly Parton weaves her words with music and memories to give listeners the stories behind her most cherished songs.

How close did Parton come to singing “I Will Always Love You” as a duet with Elvis Presley? How did she become an actress? And exactly who was “Jolene”? This one-of-a-kind audio experience answers the most burning questions that Parton’s fans have.

The Autobiography of Gucci Mane

Written by Gucci Mane and Neil Martinez-Belkin

Narrated by Guy Lockard

For the first time, hip-hop legend Gucci Mane tells the story of his rise, fall, and redemption in The Autobiography of Gucci Mane. With a string of influential mixtapes and street anthems that pioneered the sound of trap music in the 2000s, the rap icon inspired and mentored a new generation of artists and producers including Migos, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, Zaytoven, Mike WiLL Made-It, and Metro Boomin.

Taking listeners back to his roots in Alabama, the streets of East Atlanta, and the studio where he found his voice, Gucci Mane reflects on his successes while also confronting his dark past, which included drug addiction, murder charges, and a prison sentence. 

But Gucci Mane has changed, and in this music bio, he provides an intimate glimpse into his radical transformation following his 2016 prison release—one that saw the rapper emerge sober, smiling, focused, and positive. This is one of music’s great comeback stories.

Born to Run

Written and narrated by Bruce Springsteen

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that he decided to write about it, which then inspired him to tell the story of his entire life.

Vividly recounting his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in New Jersey, and the rise of The E Street Band, Springsteen fills the pages of Born to Run with humor, originality, and disarming candor. For the first time, the superstar rocker shares the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song “Born to Run” reveals more than we previously realized. This isn’t just a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. 

Billie Eilish: In Her Own Words

Written by Billie Eilish

Narrated By Billie Eilish, Maggie Baird, Patrick O’Connell

In this special audiobook companion piece, global pop phenomenon Billie Eilish walks fans through the personal highlights and special moments of her life and career, both on and off the stage. 

Billie Eilish: In Her Own Words is full of exclusive and unique content, including memories shared by her parents. Capturing the essence of Billie inside and out, listeners get personal glimpses into her childhood, her life on tour, and more, making this audio edition essential for any fan.

It’s a Long Story: My Life

Written by Willie Nelson and David Ritz

Narrated by Christopher Ryan Grant

It’s a Long Story is the complete, unvarnished story of Willie Nelson‘s life. Told in his distinct voice and leaving no moment or experience unturned, the country legend takes listeners on a ride from Texas and Nashville to Hawaii and his legendary tour bus.

Nelson shines a light on all aspects of his life, including his drive to write music, the women in his life, his biggest collaborations, his lowest lows, and his highest highs—from his bankruptcy to the founding of Farm Aid.

Talking to My Angels

Written and narrated by Melissa Etheridge

Following the success of her first memoir, award-winning rocker and trailblazing LGBTQIA+ icon Melissa Etheridge returns to take stock of her life in the years that have followed. 

Talking to My Angels is a profoundly honest look into Etheridge’s inner life as a woman, an artist, a mother, and a survivor. With characteristic wit and courage, Melissa delves into how numerous tragedies served as a catalyst for growth, and what the past two decades have taught her about the value of music, love, family, and life in the face of death. This audiobook also features live, stripped-down performances of many of Melissa’s songs, including “Talking to My Angel” and “Here Comes the Pain.”

Chronicles of the Juice Man: A Memoir

Written by Juicy J and Soren Baker

Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

The hustle still continues for hip-hop OG Juicy J in Chronicles of the Juice Man, where he shares his invaluable story as an unwavering force in the music industry. Jordan Houston’s rise to stardom was never easy. Beginning with his journey on the streets of Memphis in the ’80s, Juicy J was always inspired by music and had big dreams of becoming a superstar rapper. The Three 6 Mafia member stuck to his plan with determination, rising from a young, poor, ambitious kid to an Academy Award–winning and Grammy-nominated recording artist and entrepreneur. A never-before-seen look into one of the most influential tastemakers in the game, Chronicles of the Juice Man offers Juicy J’s wisdom as a respected industry veteran.

Tell It Like It Is: My Story

Written and narrated by Aaron Neville

Tell It Like It Is shares the trials and tribulations of legendary singer and songwriter Aaron Neville through the lens of his faith, family, and music.

Scoring his first number-one hit in 1966 with “Tell It Like It Is,” the artist went on to form the Neville Brothers with his siblings Art, Charles, and Cyril. Aaron was the breakout star, and over the next six decades, he’s enjoyed four platinum albums, three number-one songs, and entry into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

But few people know the challenging and circuitous road Aaron took to fame. Born in a housing project in New Orleans, he struggled as a teenage father working to raise a family while building his career as a musician, surviving a stint in jail for car theft and battling heroin addiction for many years. Now for the first time, fans can discover the inside story. 

Eligible Spotify Premium users in the U.K. and Australia can now look forward to 15 hours of audiobook listening per month on any audiobook marked “Included in Premium.” Learn all about it. 

Turn Up the Volume on LGBTQIA+ Authors This Summer

July 11, 2023

Looking for your next great summer read? This season, we are raising the volume on books by LGBTQIA+ authors, celebrating their stories and helping even more listeners access audiobooks on Spotify.

Starting today, and for a limited time, we’re giving away a very limited amount of audiobook copies of five books that celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, including All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, Real Life by Brandon Taylor and Ace by Angela Chen. Learn more here.

Spotify Celebrates Black History Month With the Launch of Frequency Zine

February 13, 2023

Black voices continue to be left out of the cultural narrative. So in 2021, we launched Frequency—what’s become our year-round global initiative to celebrate Black art, entertainment, creativity, and community. Its mission is brought to life by programs like the Ripple Effect Sunday dinner series and the Free Studio creator residency. Frequency is the home for Black expression as it shapes how the future sounds. 

This Black History Month, we’re continuing our support by unveiling Frequency Zine, a new social series focusing on dynamic artists who embody the boundless future of Black music. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight six Black artists across Frequency’s genre-specific playlists, including Indie, Dance/Electronic, Rock, Pop, and more. The first artists to be featured in Frequency Zine include Austin Millz, Bree Runway, Chiiild, Connie Constance, Foggieraw, and Kelela. 

Along with the playlists, each edition will feature a digital cover, custom photoshoot, and interview videos. Fans can follow Frequency on Instagram and Twitter to check out Frequency Zine as soon as it drops.

Frequency is a part of our ongoing commitment to support creators from historically marginalized communities and foster equity in the audio space. Read on for some more ways Spotify is highlighting Black creators across our platform this February. 

Black authors step into the spotlight with Audiobooks

There’s always more to learn about Black history and culture, so this month, some of our listeners will also receive recommendations for Audiobooks they can sink their ears into, like The 1619 Project developed by Nikole Hannah–Jones, Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud, We Over Me by Devale Ellis and Khadeen Ellis, and Finding Me by Viola Davis, which has been nominated for a Spoken Word Grammy.

The Audiobooks Hub will also be taken over with five curated shelves highlighting titles by Black authors within some of our most popular genres. These shelves consist of The Classics, Mystery & Thriller, Editor’s Picks, Lost in Love, and Be Inspired. Some of the titles you’ll find include:

  • More Myself by Alicia Keys: A book for fans of Alicia Keys with great music tie-ins and full-cast narration from Alicia Keys herself, as well as America Ferrera, Bono, Clive Davis, Craig Cook, DJ Walton, Jay-Z, Krucial, Leigh Blake, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Swizz Beats, and Terri Augelo. 
  • Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson: This multigenerational story was in President Barack Obama’s reading list picks for 2022.
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson: A series of personal essays from a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist. 
  • Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert: This brand-new rom-com from a popular British author is sure to be a hit for lovers of YA novels. 

Black podcast creators continue to set the tone

In addition to the Frequency Zine and our curated Audiobooks shelves, we’re also proud to showcase thought-provoking conversations from some of Spotify’s top Black podcast creators.

The Unbothered Network is a groundbreaking podcast and production company created by award-winning journalist Jemele Hill. Unbothered seeks to elevate the voices, stories, agency, and nuance of Black women by producing high-quality audio experiences on Spotify. The slate of shows including Jemele Hill is Unbothered, Sanctified, and The Black Girl Bravado offers conversation that builds community, all through the power and intimacy of podcasting.

We Said What We Said with Rickey and Denzel recently returned for its fourth season exclusively on Spotify in all video. Each week, longtime best friends Rickey Thompson and Denzel Dion dish on all things pop culture, sex, partying, struggle, love, and more. We Said What We Said is a show with bold advice, hot takes, and risqué storytelling.

On The Ringer’s Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay, the hosts dissect the biggest topics in Black culture, politics, and sports. Two times per week, they will wade into the most important and timely conversations, frequently inviting guests on the podcast and occasionally debating each other.

Spotify is committed to creating space for Black creators and fans to express themselves year-round, and as we move forward in 2023, we will continue our support on and off our platform.

Looking for more on the diverse and exciting sounds coming from Black artists around the globe? Check out our playlist This Is Frequency.

2022 Saw Even More Advancements, Acquisitions, and Excitement at Spotify

December 27, 2022

Earlier this month, we all had a chance to revisit what we listened to most in 2022 with Wrapped. From the year’s top artist (congrats on the three-peat, Bad Bunny) to identifying our listening personalities (where the “Deep Divers” at?), fans worldwide shared their listening habits. But that’s only the icing on the cake. The year also saw new content offerings such as audiobooks and more programs to support diverse and underrepresented voices, all designed to bring the best experience to listeners and creators.

Ring in 2023 by reliving Spotify’s highlights from 2022.

Commitment to platform safety

At the start of the year, we shared several actions we’re taking to balance creator expression with safety, including publishing our Platform Rules and taking steps to ensure creators and users alike understand what’s permitted on Spotify. This summer, we unveiled the Spotify Safety Advisory Council, an interdisciplinary group of experts that are providing our teams with an outside-in view of the safety landscape and helping us ensure that our products and policies address the needs and concerns of our users, creators, and artists around the world.  

Acquisitions expand our offerings

Early in the year, we acquired two podcast technology companies: Podsights, a podcast advertising measurement service, and Chartable, a podcast analytics platform. This move helped us uplevel measurement for podcast advertising and give publishers a new way to grow their business through insights and promotions tools.  

Over the summer, we closed on the acquisition of Findaway, a global leader in digital audiobook distribution. Findaway works across the audiobook ecosystem with a platform and offerings that serve authors, publishers, and consumers. Their technology and know-how helped accelerate Spotify’s entry into audiobooks earlier this fall.

As the world’s leading audio streaming platform, it made perfect sense to bring Heardle, the beloved interactive music game to Spotify. It has provided a fun and innovative way to help fans discover new songs and artists.

We also acquired Kinzen, a global leader in protecting online communities from harmful content. Our partnership with the Dublin-based company, which began in 2020, has been critical to enhancing our approach to platform safety. The company’s technology and unique approach helps Spotify better understand, prepare for, and prevent abuse trends from emerging on our platform.

Frequency carves out a spot for Black creators

We expanded Frequency, our global initiative and holistic destination for celebrating Black art, entertainment, creativity, culture, and community both on- and off-platform, with even more opportunities for Black creators. In addition to on-platform hubs and playlists, we hosted The Free Studio, a four-day residency that brought together nine Black musicians and creators. Spotify’s popular playlist Ripple Effect continued the Frequency Sunday Dinner series in Houston, as well as cities across California. 

Helping diversify the voices of podcasting

Programs like Sound Up, the Creator Equity Fund, and RADAR for Podcasters help underrepresented voices and emerging talent in the audio space. From education and workshops to on-platform amplification, these initiatives give creators the tools they need to tell their story. In October, we introduced the Africa Podcast Fund, a first-of-its-kind initiative to support burgeoning podcasters through financial grants, workshops, and networking opportunities. In December, we launched Elevate for Podcasters in partnership with the Inevitable Foundation. The program empowers professional podcasters with disabilities, providing the funding, mentorship, equipment, and accommodations they need to level up their careers. 

Introducing User Choice Billing with Google

Our multi-year agreement with Google represents a first-of-its-kind option in payment choice with opportunities for both consumers and developers. Users who’ve downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store are presented with the choice to pay with either Spotify’s payment system or Google Play Billing. These two options living side-by-side in the app give users the freedom to subscribe and make purchases, using the payment option of their choice. With this announcement and our partnership, Google is allowing more choice and competition—decisive steps that demonstrate how platforms should work.  

Blend it up

Blend combines the best of Spotify’s personalization capabilities and collaborative playlist functionality into a single shared playlist. In 2022, we took Blend to a whole new level. Users can now Blend with up to 10 people or they can Blend with artists like Lizzo, Post Malone, and Charli XCX. Fans also have the opportunity to shop artist merch from the Blend experience. Blend represents another way we can give artists a new oportunity to interact with fans, and to bring added personalization to a listener’s music experience.

Playing with video

In 2022 we expanded video podcasting to Anchor creators in over 180 global markets. Podcasters love having the option to accompany their audio with visual components, and fans get the opportunity to deeply connect with the content. We also introduced Spotify Podcast Subscriptions for video podcasts, an integration with Riverside (the go-to platform for remote recording), embeddable video, video bulk-replace, video-specific analytics, and interactive podcast features, such as polls and Q&A.

Celebrating EQUAL’s first anniversary 

Since its launch, EQUAL has spotlighted women artists through global partnerships, activations, new content experiences, and on- and off-platform support. April marked the program’s one year anniversary. Among EQUAL’s major accomplishments: listeners streamed more than 13 million hours of program artists in the first month of joining. 

Reimagining with Roblox

We entered the virtual universe Roblox to create Spotify Island, an audio paradise where fans and artists from all over the world can connect and explore exclusive sounds, quests, and merch. We enhanced the experience during the year with K-Park and Planet Hip-Hop.

Spotify and FC Barcelona team up on the field

In July, we kicked off a partnership with FC Barcelona, becoming the Main Partner of the Club as well as the Official Audio Streaming Partner. We joined the team in Miami during the club’s preseason tour and brought artists like Ovy on the Drums, Piso 21, and Mau y Ricky along for the fun. Through the in-stadium LEDs and our other marketing channels, we promoted artists of all sizes from around the world including BLACKPINK, Fireboy DML, Megan Thee Stallion, Aitch, Pomme, Feid, and Rigoberta Bandini. For FC Barcelona’s October El Clásico showdown—one of the most iconic events in all of sport—we celebrated Drake’s 50 billion streams by creating a limited-edition kit. Get more details on this multiyear partnership on our Spotify: For the Record podcast.

Upping the ante with audiobooks

This fall, we introduced audiobooks to listeners in the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. With more than 300,000 titles on the platform, we are giving book lovers a new way to enjoy storytelling on Spotify.

Time to play fair

We believe everyone benefits when competition is fair. Unfortunately, Apple does not, and they’ve consistently abused their dominant position to favor their own services, stifle innovation and hurt consumers. This year, we continued to urge policymakers to take significant action to protect competition and consumers from Apple’s anticompetitive behavior. For more on this fight, listen to  Spotify: For the Record, where entrepreneurs, U.S. senators, and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek discuss the importance of consumer choice.

Listen to U2 Frontman Bono Reflect On His Life as an Artist and Activist in His New Memoir ‘Surrender’

November 4, 2022

Earlier this year we launched audiobooks on Spotify so that alongside music and podcasts, we can give fans another way to enjoy audio in one convenient place. Now, we’re thrilled that Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, the new memoir from U2 frontman Bono, is available on Spotify as an audiobook. 

As the lead singer of one of the most iconic rock bands ever, Bono has led a whirlwind life touring the world to perform for millions of fans. But with the release of his new memoir, the artist, activist, and musician is taking a moment to pause and reflect on his experiences.

Narrated by Bono himself, each of the 40 chapters in Surrender is named after a U2 song. The  book takes readers on a journey that looks back at how Bono’s friends, family, and faith have shaped his upbringing in Dublin, the global success of U2, and his decades of work fighting AIDS and poverty. 

That’s why, for fans who want to go deeper into the life of Bono, we’ve created a special U2 destination that showcases the audiobook and U2’s catalog of albums all in one place. On top of that, listeners will also find the playlist This Is U2, with select songs that showcase the 40 featured songs in Surrender. 

Bono said that his creative process for the memoir allowed him to express himself in a different way.

“When I started to write this book, I was hoping to draw in detail what I’d previously only sketched in songs. The people, places, and possibilities in my life. Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me,” Bono said. “Growing up in Ireland in the seventies with my fists up (musically speaking), it was not a natural concept. A word I only circled until I gathered my thoughts for the book. I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of one pilgrim’s lack of progress . . . with a fair amount of fun along the way.”

Fans in search of even more background on the creation of Surrender can also check out our most recent episode of Discover This, which features an interview with Dan Zitt, who is the Senior Vice President of Content Production at Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group. In the episode, Dan not only talks about his experiences working in the audiobook industry, but also shares a few stories about working with Bono on the recording sessions for Surrender.

To help listeners discover the audiobook and the new U2 destination, the mobile version of Spotify will feature a banner on Home that will take listeners directly to the hub until November 10. Listeners will also be directed to the audiobook from the U2, Bono, and This Is U2 pages between November 7 and November 27. 

Catch up with all of Bono’s greatest hits with our playlist This Is U2:

 

With Audiobooks Launching in the U.S. Today, Spotify Is the Home for All the Audio You Love

September 20, 2022

*Update as of Tuesday, March 21, 2023: Audiobooks are also now available for purchase on Spotify in Canada.

*Update as of Tuesday, November 22, 2022: Audiobooks are also now available for purchase on Spotify in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Spotify you know and love is getting a lot bigger with the addition of a catalog of content that users have been requesting for years: audiobooks.

Starting today, Spotify listeners in the U.S. will be able to purchase and listen to more than 300,000 audiobook titles—making our platform a true all-in-one destination for everyone’s listening needs. And we’re excited to launch audiobooks with a brand-new user interface that’s geared specifically for listening to audiobooks and fits them seamlessly alongside the music and podcasts you already listen to and love.

This is just the beginning of Spotify’s audiobooks journey. We’ve been working to create a seamless audiobooks experience, and we’ll continue to build and innovate on this in the future. For the Record sat down with Nir Zicherman, Spotify’s Vice President and Global Head of Audiobooks and Gated Content, to discuss today’s announcement and our vision for audiobooks in the future.

Today, we’re announcing that 300,000 audiobooks are available on Spotify in the U.S. Why are audiobooks the next frontier for us as a company? 

We’ve always believed that the potential for audio is limitless, and we’ve been saying for a while now that our ambition is to be the complete package for everyone’s listening needs. Audiobooks are next to come into the picture because we see a substantial untapped market: While audiobooks represent just a 6%–7% share of the wider book market, the category is growing by 20% year over year. 

But what we’re really excited about is providing a great new experience for listeners—introducing audiobooks to an audience of people who may never have tried them otherwise. By bringing audiobooks to Spotify, we have the opportunity to both grow the space as a whole and enrich listeners’ lives. 

What can listeners expect today? 

Starting today, users in the U.S. can easily find audiobooks on Spotify alongside music and podcasts as a section in their library, in search, and in their curated recommendations on Home. 

Audiobooks will show up with a lock icon on the play button, signaling that they need to be purchased in order to listen. Users who discover audiobooks in the Spotify app will be able to purchase them on a web page. Upon returning to Spotify, the book will be automatically saved in their library and available to listen to whenever they want.

Once listening, there are a number of features that we know from user research are essential for a seamless experience. Listeners can download content for offline listening, and our automatic bookmarking feature saves their place so they can easily pick up where they left off. Speed control is also included, with a variety of options to speed up or slow down the pace. And for listeners who want to share their opinion after listening to a book, we’ve also included a rating feature, which will publicly display the aggregate rating of the book.

What makes Spotify ready and equipped to make a positive impact in the audiobooks space?

Adding an entirely new content format to our service is no small feat. But we’ve done it before with podcasts, and we’re excited to now do the same with audiobooks. We’ve been testing, researching, and listening to figure out how to create the most seamless experience on Spotify. Our hope is that users who find audiobooks in their apps starting today feel that the user experience is obvious—that audiobooks fit in perfectly with how they already use Spotify.

We also have the opportunity to apply our learnings around creators to uplift the authors and publishers whose content is now on Spotify. It’s important for us to deliver a great experience for the people behind the audiobooks we all love, and you can expect that we’ll start providing some exciting creator-facing features soon.

The offering available today in the U.S. is just the first iteration of audiobooks on Spotify. We’ll learn a lot through this launch and leverage those learnings as we enhance the experience with new features, plan for launches in additional markets, and innovate on the format to benefit listeners, authors, and publishers. 

What are some of the opportunities for us as a company around this offering?

We are running faster and are more focused than anyone else in audio. And we believe that audio and long-form content is a much bigger business than what many would have thought. Our expansion into audiobooks is a significant proof-point in that belief. And this is just the beginning.

Just as we did with podcasting, this will introduce a new format to an audience that has never before consumed it, unlocking a whole new segment of potential listeners. This also helps us support even more kinds of creators and connect them with fans that will love their art—which makes this even more exciting. 

What have been some of the challenges in creating and implementing this offering?

As I mentioned earlier, audiobooks are a completely new format for us. While we have substantial learnings around how people want to listen to music and podcasts, we wanted to offer an experience that feels unique to the book format. So it took a lot of research and fine-tuning to build that experience in a way that also feels intuitive to what users expect on Spotify.

We also recognize that there are a lot of features on Spotify, and we had our work cut out for us adding an entirely new content type without making the platform feel crowded. We believe that the solution we came to feels seamless, but we’ll always continue to iterate on the product to address users’ needs.

What is one audiobook you’re particularly excited to listen to? 

Liberation Day by George Saunders. George is one of my all-time-favorite writers, and his newest collection of short stories is due to come out only a few weeks after launch.

George typically narrates his own audiobooks, but this one is particularly exciting because, in addition to his own voice, it will feature a variety of really amazing narrators: Tina Fey, Stephen Root, Michael McKean, and others. I can’t wait to hear it!

Spotify is committed to being the world’s most popular audio streaming service, and the introduction of audiobooks marks yet another milestone in that commitment. Click here to visit our audiobooks hub and discover top titles and authors from our amazing catalog.

Plus, check out the Spotify: Discover This episode going deeper inside the world of audiobooks, featuring interviews with Spotify Global Head of Audiobooks Nir Zicherman, author of NYT bestseller The Atlas Six Olivie Blake, audiobook producer, Grammy winner, and SVP of Content Production at Penguin Random House Audio Dan Zitt, prolific audiobook narrator Julia Whelan, and award-winning audiobook narrator Bahni Turpin.

Spotify Closes Acquisition of Findaway, a Global Leader in Audiobooks

June 16, 2022

Today, we’re excited to share that Spotify has closed the acquisition of Findaway, a global leader in digital audiobook distributions. As our CEO, Daniel Ek, said at our 2022 Investor Day last week, “We believe that audiobooks, in their many different forms, will be a massive opportunity.” Now, with Findaway officially part of the band, we are looking forward to innovating, growing, and rethinking what the audiobooks market can be—together. 

Findaway works across the entire audiobook ecosystem with a platform and offerings that serve authors, publishers, and consumers. Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry with substantial market opportunity: the audiobooks market is expected to grow from $3.3 billion to $15 billion by 2027. Our global head of audiobooks, Nir Zicherman, said in his 2022 Investor Day presentation, “We believe this presents a unique opportunity to introduce music and podcast listeners around the world to audiobooks and drastically expand that market.”

In addition to offering the largest catalog of distributed titles, Findaway has actively worked to democratize audiobooks through leading technology tools that independent authors can use to publish and distribute their stories to new audiences. We plan on accelerating the growth of these tools, with the goal of scaling and expanding the audiobooks market overall.

Findaway’s technology infrastructure will enable Spotify to quickly scale its audiobook catalog and innovate on the experience for consumers, simultaneously providing new avenues for publishers and authors to reach audiences around the globe. Chapter one begins today . . . 

Get Your Fill of Guided Meditation, Audiobooks, Short Stories, and Poetry on Spotify

February 19, 2019

Books and poems aren’t just for reading. They’re also rich, lyrical works ripe for streaming. Scroll through the genres under Browse on Spotify, and sure enough, you’ll find Word, a category home to recordings of everything from poetry to guided meditation, audiobooks, and short stories. If you’re searching for a track full of rhythm and tone—minus the music—Word is the place to find it.

The Word genre, under Genres & Moods after selecting Browse, contains a diverse catalogue with written works from throughout history. Need a refresher on why Odysseus spent so much time at sea? Start with Mythologies. Craving something a little more modern? Try poetry by and from the Beat poets. Looking to learn a new language? We have audio courses in Spanish, Italian, French, and Chinese. And if you’re searching for something to sink your teeth into, try Sofia Ek’s audiovisual book, The Minefield Girl.  

Or, maybe you just need to chill out. If so, you’re not alone. Word listeners stream tracks on guided meditation most of all. According to our data, people can’t get enough of this mindfulness practice—similarly to how yoga was a growing fitness genre on Spotify last year. Top-streamed meditation pieces include The Honest Guys’ “Guided Meditation: Deep Relaxation,” Mark Williams’s “Guided Body Scan Meditation,” and Erica Rayner-Horn’s “Guided Meditation I – Breathing Calming Body & Mind.”

But the age-old art of storytelling holds strong as well. The other top-played spoken-word recordings include Fairy Tales for Kids’ “Beauty and the Beast,” Bart Wolffe’s “The Invisible Man – Part One,” and a reading of “Just So Stories: How the Whale Got His Throat,” by Rudyard Kipling. As for who’s listening to the spoken word on Spotify, it’s primarily people aged 55 and up who speak English, with users from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and Ireland taking the top five slots.

Stories, books, and poetry as we know them largely started as oral traditions—something to keep communities warm and together through the long nights. From Grimms’ fairy tales or Leonard Bernstein’s classical music lectures, the flame of the spoken word is alive on Spotify.

Looking for something versatile enough to play before bed or during a long road trip? Try our collection of audiobooks.