(Credit: Spotify)
Spotify is adding a standalone subscription tier for audiobooks.
The music streaming service's Audiobooks Access Tier will cost $9.99 per month for 15 hours of audiobook listening per month. Its library currently houses 200,00 audiobooks.
It comes after Spotify noticed a 45% daily uptick in interest in audiobooks from free users. But it might not be the most cost-effective option. For $1 more per month, you can get Spotify Premium, which includes unlimited music and podcast listening, plus the same 15 hours of audiobook listening per month.
Thus, the audiobook tier is likely an effort to get people to swing for Premium. Once someone gets their foot in the door, it's not a difficult value proposition to sell. Spotify also lets people "top up" their audiobook listening hours for an additional fee.
If Spotify is trying to compete in the audiobook streaming space, its largest competitor is Audible. Audible has two plans, one for $7.95 per month and the other for $14.95 per month. The former grants users unlimited listening across a select number of titles and the latter does the same but also grants users one free audiobook of their choosing per month.
Spotify's plan is competitive because it offers more titles, but Audible does grant unlimited listening, so it caters to a different type of audiobook reader.
Spotify launched its audiobook service in 2022 after the brand acquired digital audiobook distributor Findaway. At the time, it only let people purchase audiobooks through Spotify, but that perk was wrapped into Premium last year.