Spotify Tests Audiobooks Market With Collection of Literary Classics

Spotify has started releasing audiobook recordings on its streaming platform, indicating the company's intention to further broaden its library of non-music content (via The Hollywood Reporter).

spotify audiobooks collection
The collection of nine audiobooks are in the public domain, but are original recordings that are exclusive to Spotify. The titles include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, narrated by David Dobrik, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, read by Forest Whitaker, and Kate Chopin's The Awakening, read by Hilary Swank, amongst other classics. From the report:

The other titles that Spotify is releasing as part of the collection are Jean Toomer's Cane, narrated by Audra McDonald; Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, narrated by James Langton; Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, narrated by Sarah Coombs; Nella Larsen's Passing, narrated by Bahni Turpin; and Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage, narrated by Santino Fontana.

To accompany the audiobooks, Spotify has commissioned series Sitting with the Classics on Spotify, in which Harvard professor Glenda Carpio offers a deep-dive on each book, exploring the history and breaking down the narratives and themes for a modern audience.

The classic audiobooks will be available for free globally but promoted only to English-speaking markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany.

Spotify says the collection is a test to see if the audiobooks gain traction on its streaming service, but if it takes off like podcasts have done on the platform, the company's dive into audiobooks could see it take on rivals like Amazon's Audible and Apple Books in a market that was valued at nearly $2.7 billion in 2019, according to a report from Grand View Research.

Over the past few years Spotify has spent $800 million buying podcasting companies like Gimlet Media and The Ringer, as well as acquiring the rights to popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience. According to today's report, Spotify now has 1.9 million podcasts on its platform and says 22 percent of its 320 million monthly active users engaged with that content during the third quarter of 2020.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in a Few Months With These 12 New Features

Thursday June 26, 2025 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Here's Which Vehicle Brands Will and Won't Offer Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Friday June 27, 2025 9:52 am PDT by
Apple last month announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. There was news this week about which automakers will and won't offer CarPlay Ultra, and we have provided an updated list below. CarPlay Ultra is currently limited to newer Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, if you cannot...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

and 1989 others Avatar
58 months ago

For a while now I’ve wondered why books—not just audiobooks, but any books—aren’t ever given a subscription service. Amazon sort of took a stab at it, but they only included titles which were published through them, and those aren’t the books most people wanted to read.
There is a subscription service for books, its your local library.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bpp85 Avatar
58 months ago
I’m not a fan of audiobooks and I don’t like Spotify adding “non music” in their music app. I would prefer it if they created separate apps. However I heard people like having podcasts and music in the same app so ??‍♂️
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedTheReader Avatar
58 months ago

There is a subscription service for books, its your local library.
A bit of Googling has shown me that plenty of public libraries actually have systems in place for borrowing ebooks, and they don’t seem to be particularly complicated either. I’m impressed and surprised that I missed that, since I do visit my local library pretty often. Good tip!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
himanshumodi Avatar
58 months ago

For a while now I’ve wondered why books—not just audiobooks, but any books—aren’t ever given a subscription service. Amazon sort of took a stab at it, but they only included titles which were published through them, and those aren’t the books most people wanted to read. Even to purchase outright, Audible (for audiobooks) and Kindle and Kobo (for ebooks) are the only good options I’ve heard of.

I wonder how often Spotify subscribers will use this. If it gets popular, maybe some other players will want to take on books, too.
For books, I think it's about how the consumption pattern differs to music and movies. It can take weeks to consume a single book that you buy. So then you wonder if you really need to pay for a subscription at all.

Also the market size. Unfortunately people who read books are far fewer than people who watch movies and listen to music. Audio books even more so.

Technically Audio books is a subscription service, but they have a credit system give only one book a month. Which sort of works for me at least. There are sales where you get two books per credit - or you can buy credits and such. Works out reasonably over the course of an year.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
foobarbaz Avatar
58 months ago

English-speaking markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany
Wie bitte?!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
agffth Avatar
58 months ago

I’m not a fan of audiobooks and I don’t like Spotify adding “non music” in their music app. I would prefer it if they created separate apps. However I heard people like having podcasts and music in the same app so ??‍♂️
100% this. I have asked Spotify multiple times for a switch to turn off Podcasts recommendations. I've also asked if they could move Podcasts to a separate tab. That would probably be the best solution. Three tabs: Music, Books, Podcasts. If I could get one more design in it would be the ability to hide tabs. No way they will ever let you decide what is not recommended tho. I'm betting Podcasts and books will have much higher margins so they want to push you into those.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)