Music giant Spotify has announced plans to expand access to its audiobook service to over 180 markets. Currently, the service is available in 22 countries, and the company did not specify the exact number of countries that will be included in the list.
According to the latest data from the Swedish company, presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the monthly number of audiobook listeners on the platform has increased by approximately 40% compared to last year, and total listening time has grown by more than 30%.
Spotify stated that by the end of 2026, audiobooks will be available in over 180 markets, an increase from the current 22 countries. Users will be able to access more than 350,000 titles, with catalogs available in over 120 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Polish.
The company also plans to improve the Page Match feature, which will allow users to easily switch between the print or digital version of a book and its audio version. By scanning the book's ISBN code, users can track their progress by page number.
The feature was launched in February and has already been used by over a million people. Previously, in June 2022, Spotify identified audiobooks as an area of significant growth. A few months later, the company launched its service in the United States, offering about 300,000 titles for purchase.
Spotify claims to offer over 800,000 audiobooks from nearly 300 publishers and more than 50,000 authors. Another indicator of the format's growing popularity is the 752% increase in daily listening time of 'The Odyssey' in France after the release of Christopher Nolan's film.
