Spotify expands into physical book sales and launches Page Match for seamless audio transitions.
San Francisco: Spotify is adding physical books and new features for audiobooks. Users in the U.S. and the U.K. can soon buy physical books through the app. This is a big change for the music platform.
Spotify also added a tool called Page Match. People can scan a page from a physical book to find the same spot in the audiobook. The app uses camera tools and smart tech to do this.
New audiobook features help people read and listen
The app is also bringing back a feature called Audiobook Recaps. This gives short summaries when people stop listening. It used to work only on iPhones, but now it will work on Android phones too. The feature is coming this spring.
Spotify is working with Bookshop.org to sell physical books. Bookshop.org helps local bookstores. When people buy a book on Spotify, they help small shops nearby. Spotify earns a small fee from each sale.
Customers can shop and read in one place
More than 500,000 audiobook titles are now on Spotify. In two years, the number of people listening to audiobooks grew by 36%. Reading hours went up by 37%. Over half of Spotify’s 281 million paid users have tried an audiobook.
The Page Match tool is now open to all audiobook users. People can click buttons to switch between reading and listening. This makes it easy to keep track of where they stop. New features will keep rolling out in the coming months.