Spotify is going big on a new feature - and it’s not music

Finally putting its Findaway acquisition to good use

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Spotify has set its sights on a new sound-based frontier: audiobooks.

The streaming music company held its second Investor Day event on Wednesday whereCEO Daniel Ekrevealed the company’s new foray into the world of audiobooks, calling it a “massive opportunity.” Ek said he wants to compete with the other “major player dominating the space,” referencingAmazonand its audiobook platform, Audible, which is the only noteworthy rival.

The company didn’t reveal much of its attack plan, but did give a few details aboutSpotify audiobooksin its presentation.

Audiobook plans

Spotify’s Chief R&D Officer, Gustav Söderström, said the audiobook feature will launch later this year to its 400 million listeners, but he didn’t give a specific date.

Audiobooks will also be better integrated into the main app.

In case you didn’t know (and no one can blame you), Spotify already has audiobooks on its platform, but they’re rather difficult to find. You can type in “audiobooks” in the Spotify search bar and find several audiobook playlists like one forThe Lord of the Rings,but it’s not as if they were properly advertised.

We do know that the audiobook platform Findaway,which Spotify acquired back in late 2021, will be leading the charge. The idea is Spotify will be using Findaway’s audiobook “expertise and infrastructure” to build the new feature. During the event,Findaway Voiceswas listed as an example. It’s a service that connects authors with voice actors to read and record an audiobook. Once recorded, Findaway handles distribution.

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Spotify didn’t offer any further details but it’s safe to assume that Spotify’s audiobooks will have their own section on the main app like podcasts. No word on if listeners will pay extra for the new service or if they can purchase books separately as they do on Audible.

We asked Spotify for more details and an exact launch date for the revamped audiobook feature, but were met with silence.

Analysis: Expanding empire

In recent years, Spotify has aggressively expanded its audio empire and attracted new customers.The revamped podcastsquickly proved to be a wise investment as Spotify hit 165 million premium members a few months after launching the new service. Now if only Spotify was this committed tolaunching HiFi audioto its platform.

For the librophiles, TechRadar has a list of thebest audiobook websitesfor the year.

Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry for several years now specializing in consumer electronics, entertainment devices, Windows, and the gaming industry. But he’s also passionate about smartphones, GPUs, and cybersecurity.

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