Spotify says it will expand audiobooks to more than 180 markets

Spotify announced on Wednesday, 7 October, that it is expanding audiobook access to over 180 markets worldwide, including regions across Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, according to TechCrunch. The rollout is starting on 7 October and will continue over the coming months, the company said.

Spotify said more than 750 million users will be able to access audiobooks. Before this expansion, audiobooks were available primarily in English-speaking markets such as the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Germany.

The company said it has more than 350,000 titles for its new markets and has increased its collection to include over 120 languages. In Spain, users will have access to over 45,000 titles in Spanish. Spotify said it is working with more than 300 publishers worldwide, including Planeta and Mondadori, to increase the number of titles available in different markets.

With a Premium subscription, users can listen to 12 hours of audiobooks in eligible countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Chile, Norway and Peru, according to TechCrunch. Users can also purchase an Audiobook+ stand-alone subscription with a 15-hour allowance, or buy individual titles directly.

Spotify said that over the last year, monthly listeners of audiobooks grew by 40% and listening hours increased by 30%. In February, the company launched a "Page Match" feature that lets users scan a page of a physical book and find the corresponding point in the audiobook; 1 million people have been using the feature monthly since its launch, the company said.

This year, Spotify introduced Audiobook Charts to let people discover popular titles, and launched an AI-powered tool for authors to turn their books into audiobooks using models from ElevenLabs. The company also started experimenting with physical sales of books through its audiobook platform in select markets such as the U.S. and the U.K.