While lossless audio still isn’t park of what Spotify delivers, access to the spoken word is increasing as the streaming service adds more audiobooks to customer accounts.
Finding the time for reading isn’t always something everyone does, but finding the time to listen, that seems easier.
Don a decent pair of noise cancelling headphones on the commute to work, or stick something on in the car as you drive. These are just some of the times you can get stuck into your favourite tunes or podcasts, or even indulge in a book being read to you.
Audiobooks have long offered that, and audiobook services such as Audible have provided specific platforms solely for the digital version of books on tape.
But if you’re not particularly enamoured with the idea of paying for an audiobook service, especially if you’re not using as often as you think, it’s entirely possible your music streaming service covers audiobooks, too.
In fact, back in October 2023, Spotify started dabbling with audiobooks, providing 15 hours for subscribers of its premium plans. Now, Spotify is adding to the service, launching an optional extra with an extra 15 hours for $15.99 extra per month.
In short, you’ll pay a little over a dollar an hour to listen to 15 extra hours of audiobooks on Spotify’s Audiobooks+ service, on top of the 15 hours you get with a paid plan. Spotify will also offer extra hours by way of a top-up, should you want even more time with books read to you.
It’s an interesting play, and one that has been tested in other countries before launching here.
However, it’s also surprising to see extra audiobook hours before the addition of lossless music, something that has been hinted at for Spotify for years now, and still hasn’t shown up. There’s an American-voiced DJ who saw support for requested music added this year, as well as more audiobooks, but no support for lossless or spatial.
If you’re into audiobooks in a big way, you’ll find the additions available for customers on the premium plans now.
