Spotify is getting into the audiobook game

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If you’re a Spotify user, you can expect audiobooks to be added to the service, as the company announced the purchase of Findaway, a “leading audiobook platform.” That’s a savvy move by the audio streaming service, which has been losing market share to the huge influx of competing services.

If you’ve never heard of Findaway before now, you’re not alone. Chances are, however, that you’ve heard an audiobook that was provided by them, as they’re a one-stop-shop for publishing and distribution to literally any audiobook retailer you can name.

They also provide self-publishing tools, through its Findaway Voices service, which will mesh nicely with the existing podcasting tools Spotify provides.

Findaway also has an interesting business selling devices with pre-loaded audiobooks, called Playaway. Currently, those are aimed at libraries that want to distribute digital content, so it’ll be interesting to see what Spotify does with that section of the business going forward.

While we don’t know how much money Spotify is throwing down for this deal, expect it to be a hefty chunk of change. Android Police reports that the current audiobook market is worth $3.3 billion, but it’s expected to grow to a $15 billion industry by 2027.

That’s a lot of cash, and by buying a distributor and publisher, Spotify is going to be sharing in that revenue no matter what platform its audiobooks are streamed on.

The acquisition should be finished by the end of 2021, barring any regulatory hurdles of course. Expect to see audiobook titles appear in the Spotify app in 2022, as we bet they won’t want to waste a minute once the deal is done.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.