Spotify It started as a music platform where we could listen to literally any song, group or album we wanted. Its success has been due, mainly, to its business model, a model by which we either pay for the “Premium”, or we can listen to all the content for free in exchange for advertising. Little by little, the giant has been opening up the range of content by adding more types of content to consume, such as podcasts, making us spend more time on the platform, but, in return, making premium less and less profitable. And now, with the new audiobooks of the company, things only get worse.
Several weeks ago we talked about the problem of premium, podcasts and advertising. And it is that, although we pay the monthly subscription of the platform, there are broadcasts that have their own advertising embedded and that force us, yes or yes, to swallow an ad while we listen to it. For this reason, for a long time, if we spend more time on podcasts than listening to music as such, Spotify Premium makes no sense.
Now, the audiovisual entertainment giant wants to cover another type of content, again, outside of its Premium subscription model: audiobooks.
How are the new Spotify audiobooks
Already available in the United States (and with no signs yet of reaching the whole world), the company makes available to all its users a library with over 300,000 audiobooks so that those users who are fond of this type of content can access it just like a song or a podcast, without leaving the platform.
So far everything is correct: a new type of content that is added to the platform, just like any other. The problem is the business model that Spotify has opted for. And it is that, to be able to listen to an audiobook, it will be necessary to buy it individually. Once purchased, it will be added to our library and we will be able to listen to it whenever we want, but, first of all, we will have to check out yes or yes.
As with music and the rest of the content on the platform, the algorithm will learn our tastes and recommend new books to buy and play. But all this completely independently of the Premium subscription. In other words, even if we pay every month to use the platform, we will have to check out to listen to an audiobook, just as we will have to listen to ads in our favorite podcasts.
Will we see it in Spain?
For now, the launch of the audiobooks will only take place in the United States. The company has it more as an experiment, since, although it is growing fast, it currently accounts for no more than 6% of the market. And, with the conditions that Spotify gives us, and the different offers that are on the market (such as Audible), it is going to be somewhat complicated.
Be that as it may, although it will not be released from the United States, the company has announced that it does have expansion plans, so we can enjoy Spotify audiobooks from other countries. Now it remains to be seen if Spain is among these countries, and at the price at which each book will arrive.
