It’s no secret that books aren’t just consumed by flipping through printed pages these days. They’re also read online, on the Internet, or in applications dedicated to audiobooks. These read-aloud books, available in audio format, are increasingly popular with readers of all kinds. And, of course, streaming platforms have had to catch up. Where to listen to audiobooks on music streaming platforms in 2024?
Soundiiz reveals all about this new business!
Audiobooks: a relatively new and thriving sector!
The numbers in the USA are almost staggering. In the U.S., audiobooks are going from strength to strength. So much so that authors and publishers have now integrated audiobooks into their sales strategy. According to a recent study published in June 2024 by Edison Research, in 2023, “the majority of U.S. adults (52%) have listened to an audiobook, which translates to nearly 137 million Americans who have ever tried the medium“. Between 2022 and 2023, audiobook revenues are estimated to have climbed 9% to $2 billion.
These substantial figures reflect the growing desire to listen to books and not just read them. Like podcasts, audiobooks can be enjoyed in the car, on public transport, or while playing sports. Edison Research goes even further: 38% of Americans listened to at least one audiobook in 2023. That’s 3 points more than the previous year. This translates into an average of 6.8 audiobooks per year, a figure that is also growing. Children’s books are particularly popular. Parents say that audiobooks are a good distraction from screens, which some feel are omnipresent in their children’s lives.
All of these stats result from a particularly fertile environment for audiobooks. The consequence? In 2023, according to Edison Research, subscriptions to audiobook listening services have risen by one point: 63% of people who listened to an audiobook have a subscription to at least one streaming service. The rest? As you might expect, piracy still plays a significant role.
Streaming platforms such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, Apple Music, and Amazon Music know that audiobook streaming can be an attractive financial windfall, attracting more customers. However, only one of them has turned the corner: Spotify.
How to listen to audiobooks: the Spotify case
The year 2021 marks a turning point for Spotify. Aware of the importance of the audiobook market and wishing to be the first music streaming platform to position itself in the sector, Spotify buys audiobook distributor Findaway. A few months later, in September 2022, Spotify users in Australia, the U.K., and the USA were offered the possibility of listening to an audiobook catalog of over 200,000 references. At the beginning of 2023, Canada also entered the fray.
In an article for the BBC, Michele Cobb, head of the Audio Publishers Association, declares:
“It’s what we’ve been striving for for a long time. There are hundreds of millions of Spotify subscribers – a good proportion have probably never listened to an audiobook before. So, introducing them to the format, alongside other audio entertainment options, is a great thing.”
Members already subscribing to a Spotify Premium option, if they are in one of the geographical areas served, can enjoy 15 hours of listening per month without paying a penny more. Given that the vast majority of audiobooks are less than 15 hours long, they can listen to an audiobook almost free of charge every month. This amount of hours is reset to zero monthly and cannot be accumulated.
In March 2024, Spotify launched an option independent of its music catalog. For $9.99 a month, a dollar less than a Premium option, you can also enjoy 15 hours of audiobooks a month. This may be useful for people not wanting to subscribe to a Spotify Premium option and continue listening to music and podcasts for free.
To explain this new strategy, Spotify states:
“Since launching Audiobooks in Premium, we’ve seen a 45% increase in free users searching for and interacting with audiobook content daily”.
For now, in October 2024, Spotify is announcing a figure of 375,000 references available in their audiobook catalog. More than enough to satisfy most book lovers!
How to listen to audiobooks: what about other streaming platforms?
For now, it’s hard to point out Spotify’s competitors’ efforts in this sector. None offers an audiobook service directly integrated into the music platform’s interface. As it does for podcasts and classical music, Apple has developed an application independent of Apple Music for buying and listening to audiobooks: Apple Books.
However, you won’t be able to transfer your audiobooks purchased on Apple Books to Apple Music. So, unlike Spotify, you’ll have to use two separate applications. This is simple, but it can hinder anyone who wants their audio catalog to be on a single platform.
Suppose you consume a lot of audiobooks, Audible, Hoopla, Libby, Blinkist, Libro.fm, Everand, and Scribd are alternatives to Spotify. Audible is currently, by far, the most widely used platform for audiobooks. Amazon owns it. However, it is not currently possible to transfer your audiobooks from Audible to your Amazon Music account so that you can listen to them as if they were songs or podcasts.
Similarly, although you can buy books from Google Audiobooks, transferring these files to your YouTube Music Unlimited account is not currently possible, even though YouTube Music is also a Google service.
Aside from Spotify, and unlike in the podcast sector, streaming platforms have yet to invest heavily in audiobooks. Given the sector’s figures and considering that audiobooks are music files in the same way as podcasts or songs, it’s safe to assume that the next few years will see a strategy reversal. After all, if Spotify has done it, why shouldn’t the others?
The audiobook market is still in its infancy, so opportunities must be seized.
Soundiiz will, of course, keep you informed of market developments!
Can you listen to audiobooks with Soundiiz?
At the moment, it’s not possible to manage your audiobooks using Soundiiz. We focus exclusively on the music catalog of Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify, and all other platforms. But just because you can’t change your audiobook catalog doesn’t mean you have to give up on Soundiiz – on the contrary!
Our services have been in demand for years, enabling you to manage your music library as quickly as possible. With Soundiiz, you can transfer all your data from one platform to another, organize this data, import items into your streaming services, export others, create smartlinks, synchronize playlists, generate playlists via Artificial Intelligence, and much more! The list is long, as you can see.
The reason? As the streaming market grew, the two founders of Soundiiz realized that music fans needed a service that would let them manage everything in one place. Moreover, they needed to move easily from one platform to another to take advantage of everything they had to offer, all without losing a single piece of data.
The result is Soundiiz, your ideal companion for daily streaming platform use. Moreover, we work daily to improve our offer and stay ahead of the trends. That’s why, for example, last year, we brought you our very first Artificial Intelligence-based tool for generating songs, albums, and playlists. To try it out, click here.
To try out everything Soundiiz has to offer, click here!
