Spotify is firing on all cylinders and is now eyeing the audiobook market

 

After its acceleration in podcasts, Spotify continues its strategic diversification. In his sights this time, audiobooks.

The music streaming platform announced the acquisition of Findaway, a major player in the audiobook market.

Spotify buys Findaway

Gone are the days when Spotify only offered music. In search of diversification, the platform has stepped up its efforts around podcasts and now intends to tackle a new audio market: books. The Swedish firm announced this Thursday, November 11 the takeover of Findaway, an audiobook specialist launched in 2005.

The Solon, Ohio-based company now owns the largest audiobook catalog in the world and collaborates as a wholesaler with other major industry players such as Google, Apple, and Amazon (Audible). 'This acquisition puts Spotify in a position to revolutionize this space like music and podcast [...] while working on removing current limitations and developing better economic tools for creators,' comments the company in its press release.

Audiobooks on Spotify in 2022

Thanks to this strategic takeover, Spotify will be offering audiobooks to its hundreds of millions of users in 2022. The streaming platform plans to sell individual audiobooks to its users on both free and paid accounts while allowing publishers to go through an alternative payment method or that of Spotify.

Those who opt for the second option will however have to redistribute part of their income, but the gain of invisibility for independent publishers should more than compensate for this loss. Similar to what it already offers with songs, playlists, and podcasts, the Swedish platform also plans to develop a discovery option dedicated to audiobooks. However, this feature could quickly show its limits to users who are already fond of another audiobook platform.