Spotify CFO Paul Vogel said the music streaming platform will begin testing and experimenting with audiobooks very soon. The Spotify executive revealed that the company plans to continue expanding its product portfolio as it sees growth opportunities in both its established and emerging markets. Regarding the launch timing of the audiobooks, Vogel said, “It will be out reasonably soon, but don’t expect it to be the only thing we’re going to do about audiobooks.”
Vogel said he sees the company’s entry into audiobooks as similar to its entry into the podcast market. He noted that Spotify can offer users an improved user interface for listening to podcasts, and the company will do the same for audiobooks.
“When it comes to podcasting, we’ve given our users a better experience,” said Vogel.
Spotify believes there are many ways to add audiobooks to its platform and create an environment that can rival Amazon’s Audiobooks and other audiobook players like Audiobooks.com, Scribd and more. Vogel also sees the addition of audiobooks on Spotify as a growth opportunity for publishers and authors. He also thinks that the upcoming launch will help the growth of the book and audiobook market in general.
Spotify continues to find new ways to increase revenue. Last month, the company began selling live concert tickets to fans directly from its platform, rather than referring users to partners like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite.
Vogel said the product was well received by artists, and that the company saw it as a way to increase average revenue per user. He also added that when people buy tickets on Spotify, they tend to listen to that artist’s music more on Spotify. However, Vogel did not reveal how much Spotify earns from ticket sales.
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