Spotify begins selling audiobooks, competing with other tech companies
As part of its strategy to expand beyond music streaming and establish itself as a destination for audio content, Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) has started selling audiobooks. Along the way, the company will be competing against formidable rivals like Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL).
The company added audiobook titles to searches and into curated recommendations in addition to launching sales of more than 300,000 volumes to customers on Tuesday with a dedicated interface section.
The play button for audiobooks will display a lock icon, indicating that they must be purchased. Notably, Spotify (SPOT) will advise consumers to purchase audiobooks via a mobile Web browser as opposed to the app, avoiding the sizable app store revenue cut for tech platforms.
The book sales services provided by Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), the two leading operating system suppliers, are comparable to those provided by Spotify (GOOGL). Meanwhile, Spotify's acquisition of Findaway in June prepared it to compete with Audible, the industry leader in audiobook subscription services (AMZN).
Users of Spotify will be able to download songs for off-line listening, and the service includes speed control and automatic bookmarking.
The founder and CEO of Spotify, Nir Zicherman, said, "We've always believed that the potential for audio is infinite, and we've been stating for a while now that our objective is to offer the whole package for everyone's listening requirements. "Audiobooks are the next to enter the picture because we see a significant untapped market: While the category only accounts for a 6%–7% proportion of the overall book industry, it is expanding by 20% annually."
The CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, stated at the company's June Investor Day that the company is focused on improving margin performance while expanding beyond music, where it is the market leader, to podcasts and audiobooks "a $70 billion opportunity each year that we can grow into and eventually compete for. Expect us to play to win, just like we have in broadcasting."