Spotify has launched a brand new function, permitting customers to stream as much as 15 hours of audiobooks without spending a dime every month.
The streaming platform rolled out the brand new function within the UK and Australia yesterday (October 3), and is about to convey it over to customers within the US by the tip of the yr.
It comes after Spotify started introducing audiobooks to its library in September final yr, nevertheless, they had been by no means provided to customers without spending a dime, and even premium subscribers needed to pay individually for every title.
Now, with the brand new launch, the platform has confirmed that will probably be providing all paying subscribers 15 hours of free audiobook listening every month. It has additionally launched extra cost plans to its system, that means that customers pays to increase the 15-hour restrict, or pay to buy the entire ebook outright.
A lot of literary titles can be found on the service, and having struck partnerships with publishing giants equivalent to Penguin Random Home, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster, Spotify now claims to be the “largest of any subscription-based audiobook streaming platform at the moment available on the market”. Discover out extra right here.
As highlighted by retailers together with Consequence and The Hollywood Reporter, the replace to Spotify comes amid the model’s current disagreement with Apple relating to in-app audiobook purchases. Nevertheless, with the brand new function, it appears that evidently Spotify could have harnessed a loophole in app retailer rules.
As THR reviews, if Spotify allowed customers to buy an audiobook by their app, then round 30 per cent of the income could be given to Apple. That being mentioned, now customers can spend 15 hours every month having fun with an audiobook at no additional expense.
The brand new replace for audiobooks is simply one of many new options that Spotify has been rolling out this yr. Simply final month, the platform launched Showcase – a brand new software which permits artists to pay to have their music promoted on the positioning’s homepage.
In different Spotify information, final week the corporate’s boss, Daniel Ek, weighed in on the controversial debate about using synthetic intelligence in music – confirming that the streaming service has no plans to fully ban AI-generated content material.
