Spotify has offered audiobooks since last year, and you can enjoy them if you’re willing to pay. However, what if you want to just try out some of the books that are on the platform before taking out your wallet? Well, according to The Wall Street Journal (via The Verge), Spotify could let you listen to audiobooks for free. There’s just a bit of a catch.
At the moment, Spotify doesn’t have the selection of audiobooks that Amazon has, but it’s still making gains in the market. If you’re interested in listening to audiobooks on Spotify, you can use them even if you don’t have a premium. Just go to the app/website, and search “audiobook” in the search bar. You should also see an audiobook tab on the home screen.
Spotify could let people listen to audiobooks for free
Spotify’s audiobook service operates just like other services. You’ll pay for each audiobook you listen to. The price will depend on the book, also. When you buy the book you want to listen to, it will be held in your library.
If you use Amazon’s audiobook platform called Audible, you’ll get some free books when you sign up. There’s no such perk with Spotify, but the company might provide a way for people to get some free listening in. The Wall Street Journal states that the company is working on a pilot program for a free trial for audiobooks.
This free trial could allow people to listen to up to 20 hours of audiobook content each month for free. That should be enough for two average-length books each month, which sounds pretty nice. From the sounds of it, it seems like you’ll have a 20-hour reservoir each month, and as you listen, it’ll be eaten away.
It also sounds like it won’t be tied to specific books. So, you might be able to spend your hours on any book that you like. If that’s the case, then you will be able to test drive different books to see if you want to buy them. This gives you more options when you’re looking for a book to buy.
At this point, we don’t know too much about this pilot program, but more information about it will come up as time goes on.