Spotifys 30-Hour Audiobook Limit Falls Short for Long Novel Lovers

Spotify has recently introduced two new features called Audiobooks Plus, enabling Premium users to increase their audiobook listening limit to 30 hours. These features are available for individual Premium subscribers as well as those on Family and Duo plans. However, this allowance may fall short for listeners who enjoy longer books.

For instance, a limit of 30 hours is insufficient for titles like «A Game of Thrones» by George R. R. Martin or «The Way of Kings» by Brandon Sanderson.

Moreover, purchasing a book to bypass the limit is not an option. For comparison, Audible’s premium plan at $14.95 offers users a free book each month, which they can keep permanently, and frequently provides discounted prices. While Spotify pays authors higher royalties than Audible, authors cannot earn royalties from direct purchases.

Currently, these new features are only accessible to Spotify Premium users in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Netherlands, following initial testing in Ireland and Canada. Prices will vary by region, with both audiobook add-ons priced at £8.99 (approximately $12) in the UK.

According to TechCrunch, Spotify is expected to roll out similar plans in the US, although users in this area can already acquire a 10-hour subscription for $12.99. The main advantage of this 30-hour plan is its convenience: subscriptions will automatically allow Premium users to listen to 30 hours of audiobooks each month without needing to top up their accounts.

“The feedback we received during our initial tests in Canada and Ireland has been positive, and now even more users worldwide will have access to our services,” said Shaela Greenfield, Spotify’s director of strategy and operations for audiobooks.

Simultaneously, the AI company ElevenLabs has enabled authors to create and publish audiobooks on their own platform, Reader. Previously, ElevenLabs had formed a partnership with Spotify to simplify the process for authors to release AI-narrated audiobooks on the streaming service.