Tag: partnership announcement

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.