Spotify has greatly expanded audiobook listening opportunities for premium subscribers. On July 16, 2025, the global audio streaming platform Spotify fired the starting gun for changing the audiobook market landscape by expanding its new audiobook subscription option "Audiobooks+" to major countries in Europe and Oceania.
Audiobooks+ is an additional subscription applied to existing Premium plans (Individual, Family, Duo) — subscribers can add 15 hours of audiobook listening time per month. A "one-time 10-hour additional purchase" option is also supported for users wanting to enjoy longer books or diverse works beyond the 15-hour limit. Flexibility is the key: Premium Individual, Family, and Duo plan "administrators" can add Audiobooks+ subscription; subscribers get 15 hours of additional monthly audiobook listening; if the month''s listening time runs short, 10-hour additional purchases are available; Family/Duo plan "members" can also use 15 hours by requesting Audiobooks+ permissions from administrators — meaning each family member, couple, or friends can listen as much as they want individually.
Spotify''s ultimate goal is "contributing to publishing industry growth and making more people enjoy reading." Background for expansion from music/podcasts into audiobooks: audiobook users are rapidly increasing (from busy professionals and English-speaking countries to people listening during commutes, exercise, and housework); it becomes a new revenue channel for publishers and authors (increased Audiobooks+ subscriptions accumulate listening data, exposing popular books and new releases to more people); subscription-based audiobook access removes price barriers to experience multiple books (differentiating from Amazon''s Audible through "music + books" integrated experience). Audiobooks+ is part of Spotify''s strategy to transcend being just a music streaming company to become a "hub for all audio content." Going forward, an ecosystem where publishers, authors, platforms, and listeners all benefit can be built. In an era when people want to listen to music while reading books, whether Audiobooks+ can change more people''s reading habits remains to be seen.
