It looks like Spotify is determined to grow beyond just music lovers. While the platform’s huge library of music has something for everyone, it also offers exclusive content you can’t find elsewhere, like podcasts. But the company is not stopping there. After treating Premium users in the US to free audiobooks every month, Spotify has now launched a whole new subscription tier just for audiobooks called the Audiobooks Access Tier.
The new tier will set you back $10 a month and give you 15 hours of audiobook time, as per the company’s blog post. Its library is booming with 200,000 audiobooks, a jump from the 150,000 it had when the company first rolled it out to Premium users late last year.
So, if you’re on the free Spotify tier, you can keep jamming to music and podcasts with ads. But if you’re craving some audiobooks, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee. To enjoy everything ad-free, you have to upgrade to Spotify Premium, which will cost you $11 a month.
It appears, then, that this move seems like Spotify’s way of nudging people towards going Premium. Once you’re in, it’s a pretty sweet deal, given that it’s just one dollar more than the audiobook-only tier. The Premium plan starts looking really tempting when you weigh the options.
However, this move might be Spotify’s way of pitching audiobooks to users who aren’t exactly hooked on its music catalog. If you’re already subscribed to some of the leading music apps like YouTube Music or Apple Music, Spotify has your back if you’re looking for audiobooks.
This model has a different approach compared to Audible, a behemoth in the audiobook industry owned by Amazon. Audible works on a credit system: pay $14.95 a month, get one credit, and snag a book to own each month. Spotify is doing things a bit differently. You can dive into as many audiobooks as you want from its library, but there’s a cap to your listening time. If you’re into those epic, long novels, they might not fit into Spotify’s limit. It’s a trade-off based on book length.
It’s unclear if the Audiobooks Access Tier lets you purchase a 10-hour top-up if you max out, like the Premium plan does. Regardless, Spotify is throwing down a competitive game by offering a boatload of titles, although Audible is the place to be for those who want unlimited listening.
Maybe if we start telling people the brain is an app they will start using it!
