Everything You Should Know About Spotify Audiobooks

It was BIG NEWS in the audiobook world when Spotify started including audiobooks in their subscription.

If you have a Spotify membership, this is fantastic news because you can now listen to an audiobook or two each month without paying any extra!

Here are all the details you need to know about Spotify audiobooks!

The most important thing to know is that Spotify audiobooks is somewhat limited – if you’re looking for a ton of audiobook listening, you’re better off with something like Everand or Audible that has a large library of included titles.

I basically see it as a nice perk if you’re already paying for Spotify, but I wouldn’t sign up for Spotify for the audiobooks alone.

Spotify’s audiobook program gives you 15 hours of audiobook listening per month. That is only for the plan manager and the hours don’t roll over (meaning if you listen to no audiobooks this month, you won’t have 30 hours of listening time next month).

I haven’t seen any other audiobook platforms do it by hour, which makes it a little tricky with some books. If, for instance, you listen to a 10 hour audiobook and then start a new 10 hour audiobook, you’ll get cut off after the first 5 hours of the second book and you’ll either need to wait for the next month or top up your account for $12.99 to get another 10 hours of listening time.

(And they’re counting those hours by audiobook time, regardless of what speed you’re listening to it at. So there’s no benefit from a “getting more book access” perspective to listening at a faster speed).

They’ve also added an Audiobook Access plan which is the 15 hours a month of audiobook listening WITHOUT the premium ad-free listening of the Spotify Premium plan. That’s $9.99 a month.

And, of course, the most important question about any audiobook platform is “How good is the book selection?”

Currently there are about 200,000 audiobooks included in the audiobook catalog (you can BUY pretty much any audiobook, but not all of them are included) and there are a lot of big buzzy titles included, like Emily Henry’s new release Funny Story. If you have Spotify Premium and you’re considering using an Audible credit or buying an audiobook elsewhere, it’s definitely worth 10 seconds to search on Spotify and see if it’s included!

I mentioned on Instagram that I was working on this post about Spotify audiobooks and these are some of the most asked questions about it!

Everything You Should Know About Spotify Audiobooks

Do you have to have Premium to listen to audiobooks?
Yes – Spotify audiobooks aren’t included in a free plan. You’ll have to have a paid Premium account to have access to the audiobooks on Spotify (or a paid Audiobook Access plan). If you just use the free ad-supported version of Spotify, the audiobooks aren’t included in your plan.

We have a family Spotify account – can everyone access this features?
No and I find this to be a real bummer. Bart and I share a Spotify plan but he’s the plan manager so only he has access to the 15 hours a month (and there isn’t a way to share or pass them to another person on the plan). If one of you in your family is the big audiobook listener, I’d for sure switch the plan manager to that person so they can take advantage of the audiobook hours.

Duration of check out?
There’s no limit on how long you have the book for because it’s not basing it on time that you have the book – just time you spend listening. Obviously, your most efficient way to manage it is to listen to 15 hours a month so you get the full value, but if it takes you 6 months to get through a 12 hour audiobook, that’s fine too and there won’t be any issue.

How to order them by length?
I don’t see any way to do that on Spotify, but if you find a way, definitely let me know!

Is there a place to track how much of the allotted 15 hrs/month we’ve used?
Yes! On a phone, Tap Settings and privacy. Go to Account and tap the name of your plan. Select Track your included hours and top ups. If you’re in a browser,  log in to your account page. Under Subscription, select Audiobook Listening Time.

How to search? 
Hit the search button in the Spotify app and then under “Start Browsing” select Audiobooks. Browse featured titles, or scroll down to browse by category!

I have a membership – can I get any audiobook for free? Are all books open to listen to or only certain ones?
Only certain books are included in the Spotify Audiobooks library – for instance, Abby Jimenez’ new book Just for the Summer is included, but Kristin Hannah’s new book The Women is not. If it’s included, it’ll have a little green text that says “Included in Premium” and have a download button. If it’s not included, it won’t have that green text or a download button and there will be a lock symbol over the green play button.

Can you read at greater than 1.0 speed?
Yes, you can adjust Spotify audiobooks to whatever speed you want, up to 3.5x the normal speed.

Is there a discount for buying audiobooks for Spotify premium members?
It doesn’t really look like they’re any cheaper to buy for most of them (in fact, the ones I checked were cheaper to buy straight out on Audible than on Spotify). Definitely check which platform is cheapest before you buy if you want to make sure you get the best price!

If you download them can you still listen even if your ‘listening hours’ are used for the month?
No – 15 hours is 15 hours, whether or not it is downloaded (because you’re still downloading to the app and the app is tracking how much you listen, on or offline).

I heard they are ripping off authors and so we should get audiobooks elsewhere. Truth?
I can’t find anything to back this up – I assume they’re being paid royalties for listens just like music artists are paid per listen on Spotify.

 

Any other question about Spotify audiobooks? I’m happy to help!

 

if you liked this post about audiobooks on spotify, you might also like these other posts:

• 12+ Best Audible Originals
• How to Gift an Audiobook (AND get 2 Free Audiobooks for Yourself)
• Everand: The Audiobook Subscription I Love

Photos by Heather Mildenstein