Spotify is making an even bigger push into audiobooks, making its library of 150,000 titles available to its premium subscribers.
Each account, or the plan holder of a family account, will get 15 hours of listening per month. The feature first launches in the U.K. and Australia tomorrow, with U.S. getting access later this year.
The move follows the company’s announcement last year that it would offer audiobooks for purchase, expanding its service beyond music and podcasts. It also gives another reason for Spotify listeners to upgrade to a premium subscription, which start at $10.99 a month for an individual account. In total, premium subscribers get access to 100 million songs and 5 million podcasts in addition to the audiobooks.
Premium subscribers can look at any book that’s marked “Included in Premium.” The company said its catalog includes 70% of bestselling books.
By moving a large chunk of books to an on-demand model, Spotify is directly taking on Audible, the service run by Amazon.
Like its music, the audiobooks can be downloaded for offline listening, and will include automatic bookmarking.
The company said it is working with the major publishers, including Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and RB Media, as well as independent authors and publishers globally, including Bolinda, Dreamscape, and Pushkin.
Spotify said it is looking at ways to provide more access to Premium audiobooks in family accounts down the line.