Daily Times

Spotify announced on Tuesday that it is offering 300,000 audiobook titles for a la carte purchases to US users of the platform.

The Swedish company’s decision to offer audiobooks on a pay-per-download basis is a departure from the monthly subscription model it uses for music and podcasts.

Users will buy audiobooks via a separate webpage, after which the purchase will be available in their Spotify libraries, the company said in a statement.

Earlier this summer the streaming platform indicated that the lucrative audiobook market was the next one it aimed to conquer. Last year they acquired the audiobook distributor Findaway.

Nir Zicherman, Spotify’s Vice President and Global Head of Audiobooks and Gated Content, said the new offering “is just the first iteration of audiobooks on Spotify.”

He said it’s a starting point to expand availability to other markets, and build relationships with publishing houses and expand the selection of titles.

All of the current audiobooks already existed; none were produced by Spotify directly.

Spotify had previously made some inroads into audiobooks, offering several free titles.

In 2020, the company posted a free audio version of the first volume of “Harry Potter,” which was read by stars such as Daniel Radcliffe, who played the bespectacled young wizard in the movie.

Spotify’s expansion places it in competition with other audiobook giants including Audible, an arm of Amazon, which currently dominates the market.

Grand View Research says the global market for audiobooks could grow sevenfold by 2030 to reach a worth of $35 billion.