As previously rumoured, Spotify has added a new incentive for Premium subscribers in the UK and Australia. Announced during a New York launch event with T3 in attendance, the company revealed that from today, members get 15 hours worth of audiobooks per month at no extra cost.
Having already expanded its streaming offering with podcasts, including many of exclusives, the service has added the ability to access a library of over 150,000 audiobooks, including novels and biographies from some big name authors and publishers.
US Spotify Premium subscribers will also gain the benefit before the end of the year.
Books that are available to listen to from launch include Bob Mortimer's novel, The Satsuma Complex, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, Richard Osman's The Bullet that Missed, and Matthew Perry's much-talked about memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.
As well as the 15 hours of listening time, Premium subscribers can bookmark their place in a book, to pick up from where they left off. And, if you run out of your allocation before the month is up, you will be able to purchase top-ups in 10 hour chunks.
Audiobooks can also be downloaded by Premium master account holders for offline listening.
If there is an audiobook not included in the Premium offer, you can still purchase it separately as Spotify is home to more than 350,000 titles in total.
The brand hopes that this expanded service will see an upswell in the audiobook industry generally: "Just as Spotify has done in music and podcasting, this offering will fuel the audiobook industry by empowering authors, publishers, and creators to innovate and enable discovery at a never-seen-before scale," it said in a statement.
Spotify Premium costs £10.99 / $10.99 / AUS$12.99 per month, or £17.99 / $16.99 / AUS$21.99 per month for family membership. For that, you get Premium access for up to six people in the same household.
Students can also subscribe to Spotify Premium at a discounted rate – £5.99 / $5.99 / AUS$6.99 per month
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