Spotify expands its recently launched audio book service beyond the U.S., the company announced today. The service will soon be available in other markets with English-speaking populations, including New Zealand, Ireland, the U.K., and Australia. It is allowing users to access the catalog of audiobook titles through the app for streaming.
The company first introduced audio book services within the U.S. In September, it will offer users access to more than 300,000 titles. They are available in the brand-updated “Audiobooks” hub in the Spotify app and in recommendations curated by the company. In the beginning, Spotify editors would be choosing the best books to recommend to the streaming service customers, as the company has stated. However, in the future, Spotify plans to use algorithms to suggest titles to its users like it is currently with other formats for audio that it supports, such as podcasts and music.
The company has confirmed that users in the new regions will also be able to access the same amount of titles that those within the U.S. do (300,000+) but did not divulge the numbers of the number of Spotify users have made use of the possibility to purchase audiobooks after the service’s debut.
Like other audiobook apps, Spotify offers a standard list of features, including downloading books to listen offline and rating them, and adjusting the speed of playback and listening on multiple platforms.
Spotify has announced that it will enhance the search experience for its audiobooks as time goes by, expand the service to new markets, and create new formats and ways of interacting with audiobook content. In addition, Spotify suggested that audiobooks could be a potential new source of revenue when it bought digital audiobook retailer Findaway in the year 2000 and said the market is predicted to increase by $3.3 billion in 2020 to $15 billion by 2027.
