Editors in the temple of music. On Monday, October 14, Spotify announced the expansion of its audiobook service to its first non-English speaking markets: France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Subscribers to the platform’s premium service now have access, at no additional cost, to twelve hours of listening to audiobooks per month. Nearly 15,000 references are available in French (and as many in Dutch, out of a total of 200,000, mainly in English), among them a good number of novels from the literary cycle, such as those by Gaël Faye, Maylis de Kerangal or Sandrine Collette. .
If subscribers have exhausted their credit, they will be able to purchase ten-hour packages for 9.99 euros that they can use throughout the year or purchase audiobooks on demand. At the moment, only the holder of a Spotify family account will have control over listening options. This should eventually change to avoid endless debates between parents and children.
The world number one in music streaming thus invests in this small French publishing sector (between 2% and 3% of the market), for which the leader Audible (Amazon) refuses to reveal figures. Other subscription offers have emerged, such as the Swedish Nextory, Storytel or BookBeat.
“High potential”
Optimistic, David Kaefer, Spotify’s global vice president of audiobooks, is betting on “high potential” developmental. In the United States, according to him, new audiobook listeners spend on average “five additional hours on Spotify within sixty days of your first listen”. Antoine Monin, general director of Spotify France and Benelux, does not hide that “France is lagging behind in audiobooks compared to its European neighbors,” particularly compared to Germany, Scandinavia or Great Britain.
The editors believe in it. Laure Saget, CEO of Audiolib (a joint subsidiary of Hachette Livre and Albin Michel), is even more confident that her Hachette colleagues in the United States and Great Britain have seen their activity increase by 15% to 20% in a year . thanks to spotify. Eric Marbeau, director of digital sales at Madrigall (Gallimard, Flammarion, etc.), which has a catalog of 1,500 books, is pleased to better promote its catalog.
Spotify, which gives 70% of its revenue to record labels who then pay artists, refuses to reveal the nature of the contracts signed with publishers. The proportion seems smaller. But for Liza Faja, director of Lizzie (Editis), this agreement should “reach people who do not read or who no longer read.” A colossal potential, therefore.
