Spotify on the Right Track to Become a Leading ‘All-in-One’ Digital Platform

The Swedish tech giant Spotify is expanding its services to include audiobooks, taking a step forward in its ongoing goal to become 'all-in-one' application, that is, a comprehensive media platform and thus an even greater competitor to Amazon and Apple.

With over 300,000 titles, including books by bestselling authors such as Colleen Hoover, Michelle Obama, and Stephen King, the company is entering the audiobook market with a a la carte offering, meaning books can be purchased individually by title through the website without a subscription fee. Spotify could thus quickly reshape the digital market for publishers, which has been experiencing double-digit growth year after year.

Last year, revenues from audiobooks amounted to $1.67 billion, which is 25 percent higher compared to 2020, and nearly 74,000 audiobooks were published, compared to about 7,200 books published in 2011. However, despite the recent growth, audiobooks, according to data presented by Spotify executives, account for less than seven percent of the broader publishing market share.

– Just as we have changed the way people create and listen to music and podcasts, we believe that over time we can do the same with audiobooks, offering new formats, new ways to interact with content, and new ways to discover – said Nir Zicherman, head of the audiobook department at Spotify.

Holds 32 Percent Market Share

Spotify’s push into audiobooks is a gamble for the company, which has added podcasts, comedy performances, and other spoken entertainment to its offerings and announced its ambition to become the leading platform for everything audio-related.

Although the company has significantly grown in terms of content, subscribers, users, and revenue, it has yet to report annual profit. The stock price of the Swedish tech giant fell over the past year and is now lower than when the company went public in 2018. Some analysts and investors are also skeptical about Spotify’s large investments in podcasts.

Spotify remains the global leader in the music streaming sector with approximately 32 percent market share, while Apple Music holds second place with a market share of 16 percent. However, it also aims to achieve the same status in the podcast market, just as it does in the audiobook market.

With the goal of becoming a leader in the audiobook market, this summer the acquisition of the American company Findaway was finalized, which allows users to create, distribute, and sell their own audiobooks. The acquisition, valued at $123 million, thus provides Spotify with a platform to enter this rapidly growing market, which is still led by Amazon’s Audible.