Google is Reportedly Exploring New Audiobooks Feature for YouTube Premium

Google is reportedly looking into how to bring audiobooks to YouTube, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The company is said to be in discussions with publishers for a couple of months, and the new offering could make its debut next year.

“YouTube has weighed bundling the product in its ad-free YouTube Premium service, which starts at $15.99 a month and includes access to music and videos,” the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. YouTube Premium currently provides an ad-free experience on the streaming platform plus other perks such as offline viewing and background play on mobile.

YouTube Music Premium is also included in the subscription, and the standalone YouTube Music app, which now includes podcasts, seems like the natural destination for audiobooks. Google is already selling audiobooks via its Google Play Store and the Google Play Books app, so the content is already there.

Spotify, Amazon, and Apple are probably Google’s main competitors in the audiobooks space. Spotify Premium members currently have 12 hours of audiobook streaming every month, while Amazon Music Unlimited members can listen to just one audiobook from the Audible library at a time each month. Apple, however, is only selling audiobooks a la carte and has yet to make an audiobook library available via a subscription.

Do you think adding audiobooks to YouTube Premium would help to make the subscription more attractive? Sound off in the comments below.