Spotify has unveiled a significant expansion of its self-publishing capabilities, introducing a new AI-powered tool for audiobooks within its "Spotify for Authors" platform. Powered by ElevenLabs, this innovative feature will enter a beta phase in June, initially on an invite-only basis and supporting only the English language, as announced at the company's recent Investor Day event. This development arrives alongside new tools for AI-generated podcasts.
A key advantage of this AI-driven audiobook generation is its non-exclusive nature. Authors leveraging the tool will not be bound by restrictive contracts, granting them the freedom to distribute their generated audiobooks across any platform.
This initiative builds upon Spotify's existing collaboration with ElevenLabs, which previously enabled writers to submit audiobooks created on the voice AI startup's platform directly to Spotify.
While Spotify already maintains a partnership with Google Play Books for digitally narrated content, the integration of ElevenLabs suggests a strategic move towards offering authors access to more advanced voice models that deliver a more expressive and human-like narration. Notably, ElevenLabs itself launched its own self-publishing platform for authors in 2025.
Further enhancing its global reach, Spotify is expanding its "Spotify for Authors" platform to support an additional ten languages. These include French, Canadian French, German, Dutch, Latin American Spanish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Danish, and Norwegian.
The company also plans to augment its Audiobook+ subscription plans this year, introducing higher listening limits. Future enhancements will include new options tailored for students and families, though specific pricing or usage details for these upcoming plans were not disclosed in the announcement.
Spotify's commitment to audiobooks is yielding impressive results, with over a million Audiobook+ subscriptions recorded to date. The platform is on track to generate an annualized recurring revenue of $100 million from this segment.
During the event, Spotify also previewed new user-centric features, including a natural language query system for audiobook discovery. Additionally, a popular feature allowing users to create prompt-based playlists for podcasts and music will be expanded this summer to encompass audiobooks.
Spotify has significantly intensified its focus on audiobooks in recent years, successfully expanding its catalog to 700,000 titles. Key strategic moves have included extending the program to international markets, investing in non-English titles, enabling in-app purchases, and launching dedicated audiobook charts. This year, the company also initiated a program allowing authors to sell physical books within the U.S. and the U.K.
These comprehensive initiatives have driven substantial growth, with Spotify reporting a 60% year-on-year increase in audiobook listening hours. The company also highlighted that over half of its current audiobook listeners have joined the platform within the last year, underscoring the rapid expansion of its audiobook audience.
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