Spotify takes over audiobook platform Findaway and wants to offer more audiobooks
Spotify wants to take bigger steps in the audiobook market and is therefore taking over the audiobook platform Findaway. With the acquisition, Spotify expects to be able to increase its audiobook range at an accelerated pace. The companies do not say how much Spotify pays.
Findaway is a platform that brings audiobook authors, publishers and consumers together. Spotify wants to help the platform grow, for example in the field of personalization and discoverability. There is no immediate talk about an integration of Findaway and the audiobook offer of this company in Spotify.
Spotify has told The Verge that it wants to accelerate the acquisition of an audiobook catalog on Spotify and make it possible for more people to create and publish audiobooks. The music streaming service has been planning to increase the audio offer for some time. In addition to music, the company has focused heavily on podcasts in recent years; the first steps in the audiobook area have already been taken.
For example, since the beginning of this year it has been possible to listen to the first Harry Potter book and classics such as Frankenstein on the platform. Spotify expects to be able to offer more audiobooks through partners early next year. The company will partner with Storytel, among others, to sell more audiobooks. Spotify will also earn money through Findaway, in the form of a portion of the royalties the platform receives from authors.
Findaway was founded in 2005 and provides audiobooks to Apple, Google, Audible and Storytel, among others. The platform claims to have 325,000 titles.