How to Listen to Audiobooks on Spotify
You may already be using Spotify to provide a 24/7 soundtrack to music and podcasts as you travel around work and life, but the platform gives you another reason to keep your app open all day with a new offering: audiobooks.
This isn’t the first time Spotify has dived into audiobook territory – last year the company unveiled Harry Potter at Home, in which stars read the first novel from the famous fantasy series, but its latest effort is by far the most ambitious attempt to break into the industry with a turnover of 1 , $ 5 billion . The company released nine public domain works on Monday, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and The Jane Austen Persuasion , all of which were read by many stars.
Is this a shot through the nose towards the world’s leading audiobook player, Audible, owned by Amazon? Perhaps considering that the successful Spotify podcast gambit resulted in it eating up 25 percent of the industry’s audience of listeners, according to a study compiled by Statistica.
The company is hedging against any bigger plan being announced, suggesting that its latest foray into audiobooks is just a test run so far. Here’s what you need to know about the Spotify audiobook splash.
Nine titles from literary figures
All titles are classics and public domain, read by actors and stars. Here’s what’s on offer, as explained by The Hollywood Reporter :
David Dobrik narrates ” Frankenstein” to Mary Shelley; Forest Whitaker reading Frederick Douglas’s memoir, A Story of the Life of Frederick Douglas, the American Slave ; Hilary Swank Tells Kate Chopin Awakening ; and Cynthia Erivo reads ” Persuasion” by Jane Austen.
Jean Twomer’s cane , narrated by Audra MacDonald; Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, narrated by James Langton; Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, narrated by Sarah Coombs; Passage of Nella Larsen, spoke vladlen bakhnov Turpin; and Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage , narrated by Santino Fontana.
The company is showcasing even more literary muscle for those looking to dive a little deeper with Sitting with the Classics on Spotify, in which Harvard professor Glenda Carpio offers analysis and broader exploration of each title.
How to listen
There isn’t much to explain here – just enter the title of the book into the Spotify search bar. To access Carpio’s lessons, simply enter “sitting with the classics”. Keep an eye on a broader list of audiobook suggestions if Spotify finds its pilot a success.