Spotify Launches New Audiobook Subscription Tier
Spotify is the world’s most popular audiobook music-streaming service. It has more than 615 million monthly active users and 239 million paying subscribers. The app offers a variety of subscription plans to fit your needs, including Premium for free without ads and the family plan that lets you share an account with up to six members for $20 per month. It also has a wide selection of podcasts and social features like Spotify Wrapped and Friends.
Premium plan
Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services around. It offers a free version with access to more than 80 million songs alongside podcasts and audiobooks, as well as Premium options with perks like ad-free listening and higher streaming quality. The service also works seamlessly with smart speakers, mobile devices and car audio interfaces. Users can even download playlists as text files (TXT or CSV), which is helpful in case of data loss.
Spotify’s premium plan offers ad-free listening, high-quality streaming and the ability to download music for offline use. It also provides a library of podcasts and audiobooks, allowing subscribers to listen anywhere and anytime. Unlike the free version, premium subscribers can choose any song on the app or web player, rewind or repeat tracks, and skip as many times as they want. Spotify also offers more personalized recommendations than its free tier.
Spotify regularly rolls out new features for its premium customers, including a Time Capsule playlist that creates a personal mix of music from the user’s teenage years. It also offers the “Daily Mix” and “Discover Weekly” playlists, which are algorithmically generated based on the user’s music taste and genres. Premium members can also customize their profiles and make their playlists private.
Audiobook tier
Spotify is launching a standalone audiobook subscription tier in the US. It will cost $9.99 a month and include 15 hours of audiobook listening each month. The new tier will compete directly with Audible, which charges $13 per month for a similar offering. The move comes as Spotify has seen a 45% increase in free users engaging with audiobook content.
The music streaming service is also introducing a new Countdown Page feature for audiobooks that lets listeners get excited about an upcoming release. This is great for fans but can also be used by authors, publishers, and narrators to drum up interest in their titles.
In addition to the Countdown Pages, Spotify has launched a dedicated Audiobook Tab and a search function that allows users to discover audiobooks based on genres or narrators. It is also possible to add a book to your library much like you would an album or song, which will then be available for playback at any time.
The stand-alone audiobook tier is part of a larger strategy to convert free users into paid ones. The company has already noticed a 45% uptick in free users engaging with audiobooks since it first introduced the feature last year. It hopes that this will help it gain traction against Audible and Apple Music in established markets, where the company has been struggling to become profitable.
Subscriptions
Spotify offers a free version of its service and a tiered Premium option that gives you access to ad-free listening and higher streaming quality. Spotify also provides a few other features that make it unique from rival services like Apple Music.
These include a daily 30 track playlist Spotify compiles based on your listening habits (you can find it in the ‘Made For You’ section or by browsing through Browse – Discover). Spotify also updates its Release Radar every Friday, which includes new music releases. In addition, Spotify offers six Daily Mix playlists that update with music released in the last week.
For Premium subscribers, Spotify allows you to save songs and podcasts for offline listening on up to five devices. This is handy for traveling or commutes. Spotify also has a special Kids app for children and family members. Spotify Duo is a plan that lets you share a subscription with another person or a couple under the same roof. It includes collaborative playlists that you and a few friends can collaborate on, plus Blend, a playlist that combines each user’s musical tastes in one shareable playlist.
Spotify has been rolling out some new features recently, including a new AI-based DJ feature and autoplay for podcasts that automatically plays the next episode of a series after the one you’re currently playing. The company has also started adding local content to its library based on a subscriber’s registered location, such as regional songs and holiday-themed playlists.
Pricing
Spotify’s most popular plan is Premium, which costs $12 a month for an individual subscription. The company also offers subscription options for couples (Spotify Premium Duo, $17 a month) and families (Spotify Premium Family, $20 a month). Spotify offers a wide selection of songs, podcasts, and audiobooks. Its library is larger than Apple Music and Amazon Music. In addition, Spotify offers a dark mode and more social media integrations.
Spotify is also working on a lossless streaming option. It will probably cost more than the current Premium plan, but it will be worth it for serious listeners. However, Spotify’s HiFi streaming tier will have to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Amazon Music HD. Spotify currently streams at a maximum of 192kbit/s, but it’s expected to increase the quality to 24kbit/s in the future.
If you want ad-free listening, offline access, and better sound quality, then Spotify Premium is the way to go. It also comes with Spotify Kids, which provides ad-free music for children. If you’re a student, you can get a discount on Spotify Premium by using a valid student email address. You can also use TuneMyMusic to transfer your playlists from another service to Spotify. If you decide to cancel your premium account, Spotify will switch back to the free version of its service and all of your playlists will remain in place.
