The Bookseller - News - Spotify pays 'tens of millions' to audiobooks publishers with Britney Spears' memoir the most listened to

Spotify said: "It's early days, but we're incredibly excited about what we're seeing since launching Audiobooks in Premium in the UK, Australia and the US three months ago. The results show that the introduction of audiobooks is driving a meaningful incremental revenue stream for the publishing community. We feel good about future growth and will keep working closely with authors, agents and publishers to share learnings as we get further along in this journey together."

It stressed the data it has shared "underscores our commitment to incrementally growing the pie for authors and the publishing industry".

All of the major publishers entered into new limited streaming deals with Spotify last October, including Penguin Random House, which had previously been the biggest and most vociferously anti-subscription. Although publishers broadly welcomed the move, some agents and authors expressed concern about the lack of detail released about the deals and how they may affect author income.