Spotify mixing music with more audiobooks
Spotify is taking another step to diversify going for audio books by acquiring US-based Findaway, a distributor of audiobooks. The company recently signed an agreement to offer audio books with Swedish Storytel. In a press release the company stresses its earlier expanding into podcasting by the acquisition of Anchor and Gimlet.
Findaway has partnership agreements with a number of publishers of audiobooks like Amazon’s Audible, Apple iBooks, Google and Storytel, offers a global audio book catalog. The company also owns company Voices that authors can user for self-publishing.
“It’s Spotify’s ambition to be the destination for all things audio both for listeners and creators. The acquisition of Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s presence in the audiobook space and will help us more quickly meet that ambition,” said Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s Chief Research & Development Officer.
“We’re excited to combine Findaway’s team, best-in-class technology platform, and robust audiobook catalog with Spotify’s expertise to revolutionize the audiobook space as we did with music and podcasts.”
Spotify said audiobook ecosystem is expected to grow from $3.3 billion to $15 billion by 2027.
”In addition to offering the largest catalog of distributed titles, Findaway has actively worked to democratize audiobooks through leading technology tools available for independent authors to create and bring their stories to life. We plan to build on Findaway’s significant innovation in the space, and we’re going to supercharge its growth, bringing everything Spotify knows around personalization and discovery while also innovating on format, delivery, creator tools, and more”, Spotify said.
Terms of the transaction were not announced. Spotify in its recent quarterly report said it has 381 million monthly active users.
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