Spotify is dramatically expanding its presence in the audiobook market. the service is launching their availability in more than 180 countries and regions across Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. including in Armenia. The distribution started on October 7 and will continue in the coming months. As a result, audiobooks will become available to more than 750 million Spotify users. Until now, this feature was primarily focused on English-speaking markets in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Germany. Now the company wants to turn audiobooks into a global business and compete not only with other music services, but also with specialized platforms like Audible, reports TechCrunch. More than 350 thousand books in 120 languages For new markets, Spotify has prepared a catalog of more than 350,000 audiobooks. In total, the collection now covers more than 120 languages. For example, after launch in Spain, users will have access to more than 45,000 books in Spanish. To expand the catalog in different countries, Spotify cooperates with more than 300 publishers, among them Planeta and Mondadori. The company gradually adapts the offer to specific markets, so the book catalog and availability conditions may vary depending on the country. Audiobooks are included in the subscription, but for a limited time Premium subscription users in some countries get 12 hours of audiobook listening. This limit applies, in particular, in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Chile, Norway and Peru. There is also a separate Audiobook+ subscription that gives you 15 hours of listening per month. In addition, Spotify allows you to buy individual books without having to sign up for such a subscription. The company is also planning to add Audiobook+ to student rates in some regions in November. This direction is already bringing a noticeable income to Spotify. Since the launch of Audiobook+ last year, the stand-alone subscription has amassed more than 1 million users, and its annual recurring revenue has exceeded $100 million. Spotify is turning audiobooks into an ecosystem of their own The company is gradually adding features to the service that should make audiobooks an independent part of the platform, not just an additional type of content. Spotify launched Page Match in February. The user can scan a page of a paper book, after which the service will find the corresponding moment in the audio version. According to the company, this feature is now used by about 1 million people per month. Audiobook charts have also appeared this year, helping to find popular works. In addition, Spotify has launched an AB-based tool that allows authors to turn books into audio versions using ElevenLabs models. The company is even testing selling physical books directly through its platform in select countries for now, including the US and the UK. Demand for audiobooks is growing The expansion comes amid a marked increase in the use of audiobooks within Spotify. Over the past year, the number of monthly listeners to this format has increased by 40%, and the total listening time by 30%. Now the company is significantly increasing the potential audience. after global expansion, more than 750 million people will be able to use audiobooks. For Spotify, this is an opportunity to expand the business beyond music and podcasts by leveraging an already existing global audience. At the same time, the company gets an opportunity to take a place in the market, which has traditionally been dominated by specialized services for audiobooks. At the same time, Spotify needs to address the issue of local content. having a large global audience does not in itself guarantee success if users in different countries lack books in the language they need. That is why the partnership with local publishing houses and the expansion of the catalog in languages ​​become one of the key elements of the company's new strategy.