Spotify is expanding its audiobook service to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, offering eligible Premium subscribers access to 350,000 audiobook titles as part of their existing subscriptions. The German-speaking expansion includes approximately 60,000 German-language titles alongside English, French, and Italian offerings. The complete catalog includes popular titles from both German authors like Caroline Wahl and international bestsellers from authors such as Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas.
David Kaefer, VP Audiobooks Business at Spotify, said the company is "turning up the volume on where people are already listening, and getting even more great stories to them with this new catalogue and listening experience."
The expansion, which kicks in today, follows Spotify's entry into audiobooks in 2022 and subsequent rollouts in 10 other markets including the U.S. Premium subscribers in these new markets will receive 12 hours of audiobook listening each month at no additional cost, with the option to purchase 10-hour top-ups for €9.99 when needed. Non-Premium users can purchase individual titles through what Spotify calls its "a la carte model."
Asked why German and not, say Spanish—which has a significantly larger population, Kaefer replied, "We've noticed for years a real affinity for spokenword content in these markets. For example, we saw there was already a significant audience for Hörspiele" — or voice acted radio plays, which are popular across all age groups in German-speaking countries. “Previously, many of these were broken up into three-minute segments that don't correspond necessarily to chapters.” The audiobook format is providing a more structured, predictable experience, he added. "We never built a custom UX for audiobooks for these markets, but now we have that, along with a significant catalog,” Kaefer said.
The new service features including a dedicated Audiobooks tab, editorial curation, algorithmic recommendations, and resume points that save listening progress.
"I think it‘s a fantastic decision by Spotify to take audiobooks seriously and to create a designated audiobook offering that values authors, publishers and the medium as such," Colin Hauer, CEO of German audiobook publisher Hörbuch Hamburg, said. "Pairing the know-how of audiobook publishers with the newly founded local editorial at Spotify as well as the algorithmic potential and huge user base of audio lovers makes for a promising recipe. I am hopeful that together we can expose millions of casual listeners to the brilliant medium that audiobooks are - and turn them into audiobook lovers.“
Investment in Non-English Audiobooks
In a related announcement last week, Spotify revealed a €1 million investment to increase audiobook production in non-English languages, starting with French and Dutch.
"It's a million euro fund. We're going to partner with both established publishers and independent authors, and the intent is really to reduce the startup cost of getting a bigger catalog," Kaefer said. "In France, a very broadly spoken language in the world, the audiobook business hasn't figured out how to scale to unlock enough titles to produce a larger catalog, so we're just going to invest."
The fund will support production using both professional narrators and AI narration technology. Kaefer noted that producing a professionally narrated audiobook can cost "five, eight thousand dollars," making it challenging to scale in smaller language markets.
All audiobooks co-funded through this initiative will be non-exclusive, allowing publishers to distribute them on other platforms as well.
Challenging Incumbents
When asked how Spotify positions itself against established audiobook providers like Audible in Germany, Kaefer pointed to Spotify's scale as a key advantage. "Spotify has tens of millions of subscribers in these countries and effectively these people's Premium subscriptions all just got better," Kaefer said. He also highlighted the company's recommendation capabilities and cross-format promotion as differentiators.
"There's very few people who have our ability to recommend," he said. "Say an author goes on a book tour, shows up on a podcast, now what we're doing is bringing author's book into the now playing views so that people can click save and listen to it later, or dive right into it."
According to Spotify, nearly 50% of their audiobook listeners are under the age of 35, suggesting they're reaching new, younger audiences for the format. In France, where Spotify launched audiobooks last October, nearly 60% of listeners are 18 to 34, accounting for over half of all listening hours.
"We think we're a big part of why the audiobook format is growing," Kaefer said. "Growth makes everything easier, makes format innovation easier, brings on new publishers."
