Spotify is gearing up to introduce a free audiobook trial for its subscribers. This pilot initiative is a shift from the streamer’s current pay-per-download model for audiobooks, which it started offering last year after acquiring Findaway, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Unlike the existing system that requires users to make purchases via a web browser, the new program will allow in-app downloads. Initially, the trial will be rolled out in English-speaking countries and will offer users approximately 20 hours of audiobook content each month.
The move is seen as Spotify’s attempt to diversify its services beyond music streaming and directly challenge Amazon’s Audible, which currently dominates the audiobook market with a 63.4% share. It also follows Spotify’s first subscription price increase in over a decade and the company’s recent testing of putting in-app lyrics behind a Premium paywall.
Details about how Spotify plans to compensate publishers remain unclear, but the report suggests publishers may be paid based on listening duration.
