Spotify Launches Audiobooks in India With Regional Language Titles, Standalone Plan

Spotify announced the launch of audiobooks in India on Thursday. The music streaming platform is bringing more than 3,50,000 English titles and nearly 7,000 audiobooks in Indian languages at launch, spanning classics, bestsellers and regional literature. Audiobooks carry features like personalised recommendations, offline listening, sleep timers and a tool that synchronises audiobook playback with a reader's physical book. Spotify is also introducing a monthly subscription plan that offers 15 hours of audiobook listening.

Audiobooks on Spotify

In a press note, Spotify said that audiobooks will allow listeners to access spoken versions of books through its music and podcast streaming app. The Indian-language catalogue includes titles in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. It features literary works such as Premchand's Godaan, Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan and Rabindranath Tagore's Kabuliwala, alongside Dharamvir Bharati's Gunahon Ka Devta and Ami Ganatra's Mahabharata Unravelled.

The wider catalogue also includes international bestsellers, classics and newer releases.

Spotify is introducing Audiobooks+ as the subscription plan for accessing the catalogue. Priced at Rs. 199 per month, it provides 15 hours of audiobook listening. The plan is available to both Spotify Free and Premium users, without requiring an existing Premium subscription.

The music streaming platform says listeners can use their monthly allowance across multiple books, sample different chapters or switch between titles. Further, those who need additional listening time can purchase top-ups, while individual audiobooks can also be purchased outright.

Audiobooks on Spotify will use personalised recommendations and charts based on users' listening preferences. The platform will recommend titles across genres, including thrillers, mysteries, romance, self-help, and fantasy.

One of the notable features is Page Match, which lets users move between reading a physical book and listening to its audiobook. It can scan the ISBN of a printed book, identify the corresponding audiobook, and resume playback from the matching page. Audiobooks on Spotify will also support offline downloads, and there is also a Sleep Timer feature, which will stop playback after a set period.

Alongside the audiobook rollout, Spotify has introduced Spotify for Authors in India. The service allows self-published and independent authors to distribute their audiobooks on the platform and access listener insights from markets worldwide. Authors will also get access to marketing tools, including redemption codes.

Spotify says its partnerships with authors are non-exclusive. This, as per the platform, will allow them to distribute their audiobooks through other platforms as well.