Spotify recently announced it would be introducing audiobooks onto its platform, and offering access to thousands of them- free of charge to those with a Premium subscription. As an audiobook advocate myself, here’s why I am absolutely on-board.
Firstly, I think we all agree that one less subscription is certainly a good thing. Everybody can recall the heart-dropping devastation of a forgotten PureGym membership or Amazon Prime subscription fee being withdrawn from your (already in overdraft) bank account. Many booklovers will already be paying for a monthly Audible or Kindle Unlimited subscription on top of their Spotify membership: why not kill two birds with one stone and meet all of our entertainment needs within one app? If it cuts down on subscriptions and saves money, it’s good for me.
We should be celebrating reading in all of its forms, and Spotify may be the most accessible way to do so
Secondly, offering a new media format on an app we already use introduces audiobooks to a different audience. You might not be somebody who frequents BookTok or keeps up with the latest releases, but a title may catch your eye while searching for your ‘Daylist’ which encourages you to engage with reading for the first time since GCSE English Lit. In my opinion, this can only be a positive. We should be celebrating reading in all of its forms, and Spotify may be the most accessible way to do so.
In response to the argument that audiobooks are slowly killing the good old paperback: I strongly disagree. Nothing beats the feeling of picking out and reading a physical book- I have the over-stuffed bookshelves to prove it. Audiobooks serve an entirely different purpose; they’re great on the go, and provide the perfect soundtrack to a walk, train journey, or even a spring clean of your uni bedroom. They don’t replace the hobby of picking up a physical book, but supplement it. And if Spotify is the new host of my audiobook fix, I’m certainly all ears.
