All indications so far are that Spotify’s audiobook offering is expanding the market in the regions where the option is available, but too soon to be definitive about whether publishers and authors are happy with the revenue share.
With 615 million users globally, Spotify is a platform deserving serious consideration by authors and publishers, although the reach of the Spotify Premium audiobook deal is a fraction of that right now.
Per a press release, Bonnier Books UK CEO Perminder Mann said:
“One of our core values is that every reader matters, and we are always looking for new ways to broaden the reach of our books to introduce new audiences to our authors’ voices and perspectives. Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium program is another positive step forward for authors and publishers, and we look forward to Bonnier Books UK audiobooks being enjoyed by a new generation of audio listeners.”
Anthony Goff, President at Blackstone Publishing added: “This relationship has been years in the making as I’ve been speaking with the great team at Spotify from their earliest days of entertaining a foray into audiobooks. Blackstone Publishing could not be happier to have them as a new partner as we continually look widen the scope of the market and get listening to books the mass appeal that it has always deserved.”
All indications so far are that Spotify’s audiobook offering is expanding the market in the regions where the option is available, but too soon to be definitive about whether publishers and authors are happy with the revenue share.
And bubbling alongside is a developing controversy over music royalties, with some asserting the introduction of audiobooks to the platform is causing music royalties to fall.
But for now, at least, book publishers seem largely content with the results. Let’s hope it stays that way.
