Spotify expands audiobooks to more than 180 markets

Spotify, the popular streaming service, has announced that it is expanding its audiobook offerings to more than 180 markets, a significant increase from the current 22. This expansion comes as the audiobook format continues to gain popularity, with monthly listeners on the platform rising 40% year-on-year and listening hours up more than 30%.

The company aims to make audiobooks available in over 180 markets by the end of 2026, though the exact number of countries has not been specified. Users will have access to more than 350,000 titles in over 120 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Polish. The company will also enhance its Page Match feature, allowing users to seamlessly transition from a physical or digital book to its audio version by scanning the book's ISBN code and tracking their progress via the page number.

Spotify launched this feature in February, which has already been used by over one million people. The company first identified audiobooks as a major growth area in June 2022 and launched its service in the United States in June 2022, offering over 300,000 titles for purchase. Today, Spotify boasts over 800,000 audiobooks from nearly 300 publishers and more than 50,000 authors.

The growing popularity of audiobooks was evident when Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of "The Odyssey" caused daily listening hours for the audiobook version to surge by 752% in France.