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The Spotify app is getting a new “Audiobooks” section.
Spotify
On Tuesday, Spotify announced that it’s adding audiobooks to its mobile and desktop apps.
Spotify users can now purchase audiobooks and then listen to them within the app.
Over 300,000 audiobooks are available right now, and more will be added over time.
Spotify has spent the last few years trying its hardest to become a one-stop-shop for audio entertainment. That means music, podcasts — and starting today for users in the US, audiobooks.
On Tuesday, Spotify announced that it’s launching a new audiobook feature. Over 300,000 titles will be added today, and more are coming in the future.
You can stream audiobooks on Spotify now — for a price
Just like music and podcasts, audiobooks will appear as an option on your Home, Search, and Library pages. You can download any of your books to listen to them offline. And if you close an audiobook midway and then launch it again later, the stream will pick up right where you left off.
The audiobook player also includes the same speed controls that you usually see on podcasts, as well as a ratings system, so you can rant or rave about your favorite titles.
Each chapter gets its own track.
Spotify
All of this comes with a catch, though: Unlike songs or podcasts, you can’t just pick out an audiobook and start listening right away. You first need to buy any audiobook you want to listen to. But once you buy a book, it’ll be added to your Library, where it’ll stay forever.
Notably, Spotify’s audiobook system is going to work differently than a lot of other audiobook apps, like Audible. While Audible lets you pay a monthly fee to access a curated catalog, and offers premium tiers with monthly credits that you can use to purchase books outside of that curation, Spotify just makes you buy each book individually.
The upside to this is that you only have to pay for what you want to read, when you want to read it. The downside is that you don’t get any free audiobook options.
Spotify is trying to compete with Amazon
In the company’s post announcing the audiobook feature, Spotify states that it’s “committed to being the world’s most popular audio streaming service.” In other words, Spotify wants to dominate the audio streaming market, and audiobooks are an important step towards that goal.
Right now, Spotify only has one real competitor in the general audio streaming space: Amazon. Amazon owns and operates its own music streaming service, Amazon Music. But it also owns the audiobook company Audible, and offers audiobooks through its Prime Reading branch.
Spotify is trying to take over every part of the audio market.
Thomas Trutschel/Getty Images
It’s no secret that Spotify is already winning when it comes to music and podcasts. But if it manages to become the top name in audiobooks too, then there’s not much Amazon can do to compete.