Spotify bets big on new functionality (and it’s not music)

Spotify bets big on new functionality and its not music

Spotify we all know as a platform where you find your favorite music and podcast, but the service is looking to expand significantly. For the upcoming expansion, the company is not looking at music, but it remains active in the audio business, of course. The streaming service is now setting its sights on audiobooks.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announces this during a day for investors. Ek calls the market for audiobooks a “gigantic opportunity.” Ek also says that his company wants to compete with the largest in this segment. The top executive is referring to the success that Amazon is having with its Audible platform.

Spotify focuses on audiobooks

Although the CEO did not present a plan of attack during his presentation, a colleague of his did give some details. Indeed, Gustav Söderström, responsible for research and development at Spotify, let it be known that the new feature will launch at the end of 2022. Unfortunately, the top executive did not yet give a specific date.

Spotify on your iPad (Image: Unsplash / Heidi Fin)

Spotify already offers some audiobooks. But when the feature actually goes live, they’ll have a more prominent place within the streaming service’s app. Finding the audiobooks right now, however, is difficult. You can search within the app for that term, but that’s pretty much where it ends.

The Lord of the Rings

If you search for audiobooks, you’ll soon come across a playlist of The Lord of The Rings. But the company doesn’t really advertise this, as for a very long time the focus was on music and podcasts. But by the end of 2022, this will officially change, as audiobooks will become much more important.

Spotify is going to lean on the technology of the Findaway company for this in particular, which it acquired in late 2021. With Findaway Voice, writers and narrators can find each other more easily. After a narrator has voiced all the text, Findaway takes over the distribution of the audiobooks.

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