Spotify Audiobooks officially launched in the U.S. yesterday, directly competing with Audible and potentially threatening its dominance in the audiobook industry.
Audible, which was acquired by Amazon in 2008, controls 41% of the US audiobook market and critics say it has a monopoly on the industry. Could Spotify’s entry into the space threaten that?
It seems Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek and his team hope so. Nir Zicherman, head of audiobooks at Spotify, especially sees the potential to expand the audience for audiobooks and transform how users interact with content—the audiobook industry is already extremely profitable at $1.7b, but audiobooks represent less than 7% of the entire book market.
Spotify’s grip on all-things audio has already been growing. The platform is already a leader in music streaming services and podcasts, so adding audiobooks to the mix could make it a convenient all-in-one app for users who don’t like jumping around. It could also be a gamechanger for the company’s profits; despite being a leader in streaming, “[Spotify] has still never reported an annual profit.”
Spotify debuted its audiobook catalog with 300,000 titles from best-selling authors like Michelle Obama and Stephen King, and introduced a pay per book pricing model that’s a huge contrast to Audible’s unlimited subscription model.
We’ll be watching to see how Amazon responds to its new competitor. “Just as we've done with podcasting, expect us to play to win,” Ek says of Spotify.
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