Spotify makes audiobooks free for premium subscribers
Spotify's business was stagnating. Apple had overtaken it as the top paid music service in the United States, losses were mounting and customer growth was slowing.
Daniel Ek, the company's CEO, decided that Spotify needed to transform from a music service into the everything store for audio. The first missing piece was podcasts.
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On Tuesday, Spotify said that it would begin offering 15 hours of audiobooks each month as part of its streaming service for premium subscribers in Britain and Australia. This winter, it will expand the offering to U.S. subscribers.
Spotify's expansion into books has the potential to shake up the retail landscape for audiobooks, a fast-growing segment of publishing that has long been dominated by the Amazon-owned audio retailer Audible.
In Ek's eyes, Audible's audiobook dominance is reminiscent of Apple's past control over music and podcasts. Spotify built its business by disrupting the music industry with its monthly subscription service and podcasts. Ek said in an interview that he saw the potential to do the same with audiobooks.
Having books on Spotify could help publishers reach a vast new audience. Spotify has the tools to recommend relevant audiobooks to podcast listeners who are interested in particular subjects, and to promote audio titles to Spotify users who
