Spotify is making a significant move in the audiobook industry, solidifying its commitment by forming two new partnerships. The platform has recently inked deals with Bonnier Books UK and Blackstone Publishing, adding their extensive collections of vibrant, award-winning audio titles to our Audiobooks in Premium offer.
Based in London, Bonnier Books UK is one of Britain’s leading publishers, with bestselling books for readers and listeners everywhere. Some of the titles coming to the Spotify platform include The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christie Lefteri, Parenting Hell by Josh Widdicombeand Rob Beckett, and Audacity by Katherine Ryan. Blackstone Publishing, meanwhile, is one of the fastest-growing and most-respected publishing houses in the United States., with multiple New York Times bestsellers, Grammy Award-winning audio productions, and titles included on the New York Times Best Books of the Year list. Among the Blackstone titles soon to be available on Spotify are Whoopi Goldberg’s new memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me; Hell Divers XI: Renegades by Nicholas Sansbury Smith; and Cool Food: Erasing Your Carbon Footprint One Bite at a Time by Robert Downey Jr. and Thomas Kostigen.
“We want Spotify to be the best place for authors and publishers to get their books heard and to bring great audio stories to as many people as possible,” said Duncan Bruce, Director of audiobook Partnerships & Licensing at Spotify. “Our partnerships with Blackstone Publishing and Bonnier Books UK make this a possibility with access to our global audience of more than 615 million users. Since launching Audiobooks in Premium, we’re seeing success with bestsellers, but back catalogue titles are also gaining popularity, with 14 of the top 50 Audiobooks in Premium titles being released before 2020.”
“One of our core values is that every reader matters, and we are always looking for new ways to broaden the reach of our books to introduce new audiences to our authors’ voices and perspectives,” said Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books UK. “Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium program is another positive step forward for authors and publishers, and we look forward to Bonnier Books UK audiobooks being enjoyed by a new generation of audio listeners.”
Anthony Goff, President at Blackstone Publishing, adds, “This relationship has been years in the making as I’ve been speaking with the great team at Spotify from their earliest days of entertaining a foray into audiobooks. Blackstone Publishing could not be happier to have them as a new partner as we continually look to widen the market scope and get listening to books the mass appeal it has always deserved.”
Serious about audiobooks
Spotify got into audiobooks in 2022 when it purchased Findaway, one of the world’s largest distributors. The platform has matured over the past few years, expanding into other countries, such as Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and Australia. Spotify’s Audiobooks in Premium offer gives eligible Spotify Premium subscribers access to 15 hours of audiobook content per month from a catalogue of more than 250,000 titles.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
