For the first time, Spotify has announced its year-end audiobook listening data for Premium subscribers, dubbed Wrapped, with Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing claiming the top spot as the most-listened-to title of 2025.

The streaming platform's data shows fantasy and romance titles dominated listening among Premium subscribers this year. Yarros claimed two spots in the top 10 with Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, while Sarah J. Maas captured three positions with titles from her A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Navessa Allen's dark romance Lights Out took second place—reviewers online heavily favor the audiobook—and Shari Franke's memoir The House of My Mother ranked sixth. Nearly all of 2025's top audiobooks were backlist titles.

Maas topped the author rankings, followed by Freida McFadden, Yarros, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Stephen King. Julia Whelan was named the top narrator for audiobooks released in 2025.

Katie del Rosario, Spotify's North America associate director for audiobooks editorial, said that this year's "biggest trends were definitely spicy romance and romantasy, which continue to dominate book culture." She also pointed to "a real surge in music memoirs, with readers loving these behind-the-scenes looks at creative lives," citing releases from Mark Ronson, Mark Hoppus, and Cher.

Roshni Radia, Spotify's European manager for audiobooks, described romantasy as "a major cultural phenomenon" driven by BookTok communities and authors like Maas and Yarros. While historically popular with women, men now account for roughly 15% of listening in steamier subgenres, according to Spotify.

Del Rosario noted increased interest in what Spotify's editorial team calls "dystopian anxiety," with spikes in classic titles like Fahrenheit 451 and 1984, as well as contemporary works exploring social unrest, climate change, and emerging technologies.

Spotify's data also highlights the impact of screen adaptations on audiobook listening. The platform reported a 600% increase in listening to May Cobb's The Hunting Wives and a 330% uptick for Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10 in the two weeks following the premieres of their respective TV and film adaptations. Del Rosario pcited The Summer I Turned Pretty and Stephen King's The Long Walk as driving renewed interest in backlist titles.

The company reported that 47% of listeners use Spotify to explore new genres and authors. Half of listeners said they use the platform to immerse themselves in stories, whether through music like fan-created playlists or podcast episodes analyzing the narratives.

Spotify is also launching its Wrapped for Authors program, which provides authors and publishers with data on global listener engagement. This year's edition includes information on top titles for first-time listeners, fastest-growing markets, and listeners' music and podcast preferences.