Spotify Starts Selling Physical Books and Expands Audiobooks Features

Spotify is now selling physical books in the US and the UK via a new integration with online book marketplace Bookshop.org. The partnership, announced in February, goes live today on the Spotify Android app, with iOS to follow next week.

“By connecting digital discovery with physical book sales, we’re giving listeners more ways to experience the stories they love while supporting authors and independent bookstores,” the company said today. To bridge the gap between physical books and its growing library of audiobooks, Spotify recently launched a Page Match feature that lets users seamlessly transition from reading a physical book to listening to the audiobook version on the platform. Starting today, Page Match is adding support for over 30 new languages, including French, German, and Swedish.

“Many users have recently started streaming audiobooks on Spotify for the first time, and those who have used Page Match stream an average of 55% more audiobook hours each week than other listeners. Additionally, 62% of Page Matched audiobook titles on Spotify are books users had never streamed previously,” the company said today.

Spotify is bringing other audiobook features to more markets today: Audiobook Charts, which launched in the US and the UK in February, are now available in Germany. A dedicated chart for kids and family audiobooks is also launching in the US, UK, and Germany today.

Lastly, the AI-powered Audiobook Recaps, which debuted on iOS in November, are now available on the Spotify Android app. Recaps are available after listening to the first 15-20 minutes of an audiobook, and they’re regularly updated as Spotify users reach new listening points.

“These updates demonstrate our continued ambition to make reading fit into modern life,” said Owen Smith, Spotify’s Global Head of Audiobooks. “Whether it’s discovering a book the same way you’d find a song or podcast on Spotify, picking up the audiobook on your commute, using Page Match to switch to a physical copy at home, or jumping back in with a Recap, we’re making it easier for people to engage with books while supporting growth for authors and publishers along the way.”

Spotify currently offers 15 hours of audiobook listening time every month with its Premium plan, and users can also top up their hours when they reach their monthly limit. Two years ago, the company also launched a $9.99/month Audiobooks Access plan with 15 hours of listening from a catalog of over 700,000 titles.