Spotify, the popular music streaming service, has been expanding its feature offerings, notably its move into the audiobook industry. With users in the US being the first to experience this new addition, an all-new section of the Spotify app now provides its users, regardless of whether they are Premium members or not, a library of over 300,000 audiobook titles that they can either purchase or preview.
All purchased audiobooks are incorporated into the users' libraries, appearing alongside music and podcasts for easy access. These titles will also populate in their Home recommendations and the Search feature. Both mobile and desktop versions of the Spotify app will support this addition. For those audiobooks that haven't been bought yet, users will spot a lock icon overlaying the play buttons.
One of the user-friendly features of these Spotify audiobooks includes automatic bookmarking, which enables users not to lose their place, picking up right where they stopped. Additionally, users can download their purchased content for offline listening and have the option to vary the speed, thereby tailoring the pace of the audiobook to their preference.
In a recent interview, Spotify executive Nir Zicherman announced this exciting launch emphasizing that a specially designed user interface has been created to optimize the audiobook listening experience and that this new feature is set to grow and progress further.
An image portraying the new look of the Spotify app can be viewed here, showing how purchased audiobooks will fit seamlessly into the app's structure. As for now, the audiobook feature will be exclusive to US Spotify users; however, the company has plans to roll out this feature to more markets in the future.
It is evident that Spotify's transition into the audiobook arena is hardly surprising, given its history of experimenting with different audio content forms. The company's acquisition of the audiobook platform, Findaway, in November 2021 had already hinted at its long-term strategy being framed in this direction.
By entering the audiobook industry, Spotify aims to make a significant impact on the popularity of competing services such as Audible, Blinkist, and Scribd. Aside from that, it intends to gain a competitive edge over its main competitor, Apple Music. With its growing slate of offerings, Spotify has evolved into an all-in-one platform for music, podcasts, and now, audiobooks, a first in the streaming industry.
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