If you happen to subscribe to Spotify Premium there’s some very good news. The hugely popular music service has announced the launch of a free upgrade that’s offering users access to over 150,000 audiobooks without it costing a penny extra. That means as well as listening to endless playlists and podcasts you can now tune into a bestseller as well.
At launch, there will be content from famous authors such as Richard Osman, Stephen King, Michelle Obama, J. R. R. Tolkien and Adam Kay. When you load the app, any book marked with the tag “Included in Premium” will be available to hear from tomorrow, October 4, as long as you are paying the £10.99 monthly fee.
Spotify has confirmed that those in the UK are some of the first to get this upgrade with it arriving here and Australia before anywhere else. Brits even get access ahead of a release in the USA.
Just like music, all of the books included will also be available to download so you don’t need a data connection to listen in – that’s good news if you’re about to hop on a long-haul flight and fancy some extra entertainment.
Spotify also says that listeners will be able to find audiobooks by searching for particular titles in their Home feed and in its Audiobooks hub, which features an editorially curated selection of top titles.
It all sounds great so what’s the catch?
It’s been confirmed that the free option only offers up to 15 hours of audiobook listening each month. If you start a lengthy novel and don’t get to the end before the time is up an additional 10-hour allocations can be purchased as top-ups whenever needed.
Prices for additional story time are yet to be confirmed but anyone wanting to use this service on a regular basis will clearly end up paying for it.
In an update sent to Express.co.uk, Spotify said: “Spotify believes that the audiobook industry can grow far beyond what it is today, and as the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, with over 550M users, Spotify’s reach of potential new audiobook listeners will enable more people than ever to discover and engage with books and pave the way for future innovation for the audiobook format.”
