Spotify expands audiobooks to more than 180 markets

Spotify is expanding audiobook access to more than 180 markets worldwide, with the rollout starting today and continuing over the coming months. The company announced the expansion on Wednesday.

More than 750 million users will be able to access audiobooks. Spotify says its collection for the new markets includes more than 350,000 titles in over 120 languages. In Spain, users will have access to more than 45,000 titles in Spanish.

Spotify is working with more than 300 publishers worldwide, including Planeta and Mondadori, to expand the selection. In eligible countries, Premium subscribers can listen to 12 hours of audiobooks. Users can also buy an Audiobook+ standalone subscription, which offers a 15-hour allowance, or purchase individual titles. Spotify plans to add Audiobook+ to student plans in select regions in November.

The company says Audiobook+ has gained more than 1 million subscribers since launching last year and generates more than 100 million in annual recurring revenue for the platform. Spotify also says monthly audiobook listeners grew by 40% over the past year, while listening hours rose by 30%. In February, it launched Page Match, which lets users scan a page in a physical book to find the corresponding point in its audiobook. Spotify says 1 million people have used the feature monthly since its launch.