After launching its new audiobook catalog in the US in September, Spotify has been quick to roll it out to other countries as well. Today, its 300,000-track catalog is also available in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, while Spotify is focusing first on the English-language market for its latest spoken-language offering.
As in the US, audiobooks are not included with Spotify’s existing paid subscriptions or free offerings. Spotify users can view them, but must purchase them from the web using the à la carte model before they can unlock them and listen to them in their app.
Yes, this means that just like in the US, the feature is still affected by the ongoing feud between Spotify and Apple. Spotify recently admitted that its audiobook purchase process was “too complicated and confusing” for listeners, and claimed it was the only interface Apple would embrace after a series of rejections for its updated iOS app.
So anyone who finds an audiobook in the app will get a prompt like this after hitting the locked play button:‘Want to listen? You can’t buy audiobooks in the app. We know, it’s not ideal’, with no information on how they can buy elsewhere. The feature works on Spotify’s web player though.
How to Find and Buy Audiobooks on Spotify
Open Spotify on your internet browser, log in if you’re not already, and select the “Search” option in the left column. Here you’ll see the “Audiobooks” tile, which you can select to browse titles in curated categories, including Best Audiobooks, News, Mystery & Thriller, Personal Development, and Other types and titles”.
You can also use Search to see if Spotify has a specific audiobook by selecting Search on the left and typing it into the search bar. You can filter the results to “Audiobooks” by selecting the label below the search bar.
Select an audiobook by clicking it, and you’ll see a prominent “Buy” button. Select it and you’ll be taken to the checkout page where you can pay with a credit or debit card.
You can now listen to audiobooks in the “Your Library” section of the mobile app.
Is Spotify audiobooks worth it?
We put the prices of several well-known books on Spotify Audiobook to give you a more intuitive feeling about them.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone $32.90
- The Fellowship of the Ring $29.99
- A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire $40.00
Meanwhile, the cost of Audible (owned by Amazon) subscription is $14.95 a month. On average, buying a book on Spotify is worth a two-month subscription to Audible, not to mention that Audible also offers a 30-day free trial. So we don’t think spotify audiobooks are a cost-effective purchase.
Leave a Reply