After including 15 hours of free audiobooks listening to its subscription plan late last year, Spotify immediately is introducing a $9.99 per thirty days possibility that may enable its free customers to additionally entry its audiobooks assortment. The corporate announced on Friday its new “Audiobooks Entry Tier,” which, much like the service provided to subscribers, permits clients within the U.S. to stream 15 hours of listening from its catalog of over 200,000 titles.
With the addition, free Spotify customers will have the ability to proceed to stream music and podcasts by way of its ad-supported service, however pay to take heed to audiobooks with out having to purchase a Spotify subscription.
There’s not a lot financial savings available right here, given {that a} Spotify Premium subscription begins at $10.99 per thirty days for a person plan — solely a greenback greater than the audiobooks-only plan. Nevertheless, the transfer might enable Spotify to upsell audiobooks to clients who aren’t as occupied with its music service, or who commonly use one other app for that. It might additionally make the Premium product look extra compelling.
As well as, the transfer provides Spotify a option to compete with Amazon-owned audiobooks big Audible because it introduces a distinct mannequin for audiobook listening. As a substitute of paying for Audible’s $14.95 per thirty days subscription that provides one credit score to purchase a title from its bigger assortment together with finest sellers and new releases, customers might pay Spotify $9.99 per thirty days for a sure variety of hours. Fifteen hours is pretty beneficiant, because it typically encompasses extra listening time than one audiobook alone, if not two shorter books.
The corporate immediately additionally provided an replace on the curiosity that free customers have for audiobooks, noting that since launching audiobooks for its Premium subscribers, it’s seen a forty five% improve in free customers looking for and interacting with audiobook content material every day.
In its most up-to-date quarter, Spotify noticed the second biggest quarterly gain in users in its firm historical past, reaching over 600 million month-to-month lively customers, and over 236 million paid subscribers — up 15% year-over-year, regardless of elevating costs within the U.S. from $9.99 to $10.99 per thirty days. It additionally stated that it turned the No. 2 supplier of audiobooks, behind Audible, however famous it was nonetheless too early to say what impression the service was having on subscriber momentum and different elements of its enterprise.
Source link
