Spotify is moving beyond audiobooks to offer virtual books

Spotify’s next bet on books isn’t digital — it’s physical.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Spotify’s New York City headquarters, the streaming giant unveiled a slate of new book-focused brands that go beyond audiobooks. Updates include Page Match, a tool that allows readers to easily switch between physical or e-books and audiobooks, and a new partnership with Bookshop.org that will allow users to purchase physical books directly through the Spotify app.

Together, the moves represent a surprising but deliberate expansion: Spotify isn’t just doubling down on audio. It taps into the virtual book economy and positions itself as a bridge between finding, listening, and having a book in your hands.

This announcement is based on strong statistics shared by Owen Smith, Spotify’s head of audiobooks: Only 16 percent of American adults say they read for fun.

“But that’s not because people don’t care about books,” said Smith. “The world has changed. We live in a very busy, very distracted world. People find it difficult to focus. They find it difficult to find time to discuss a book.”

Spotify’s idea is that learning doesn’t need to compete with modern life – it needs to adapt to it. The company’s new features are designed to make learning more flexible, more forgiving, and easier to pick up and put down without losing momentum.

Page Match seeks to make the transition between reading and listening seamless

The most anticipated of these is Page Match, which Spotify describes as a “first-of-its-kind feature” that connects physical books, e-books, and audiobooks into one. Built using computer vision and text matching — not AI, Smith noted — the feature allows readers to scan a page in the Spotify app to jump instantly to the corresponding period in the audiobook, then scan again later to find their place on the page.

While reading Rufi Thorpe’s book Margo Has Money Problemsfor example, I found myself bouncing between a portable book at home and an audiobook while on the road. Each switch meant fumbling to find the right chapter or guessing how far into the story I was. A feature like Page Match would have completely removed that conflict.

It’s a continuation of Spotify’s latest “decline” on the books. Page Match follows Audiobook Recaps, offering short, personalized summaries that help listeners re-enter the story after a long time. These tools reflect Spotify’s belief that the biggest obstacle to learning today is not interest but continuity.

“We want to help more people find more time to enjoy more books,” said Smith. “When we do that, we make Spotify a more important part of people’s lives, a place where people feel inspired or empowered after their session, without regretting the time they spent.”

Page Match is now available on most English-language audiobooks for all Spotify listeners. Premium subscribers can start using it today with their monthly audiobook hours. Spotify says the feature will be fully available to everyone in Feb. 23.

Spotify is getting into physical books – thinking of indie bookstores

Starting later this spring, users in the US and UK will be able to buy physical books directly from the Spotify app through a partnership with Bookshop.org, which distributes sales to independent bookstores. Bookshop.org will manage pricing, inventory, and fulfillment, while Spotify becomes the new destination for discovery and shopping.

Credit: Spotify

“We know that many people prefer reading physical books to listening at times in their lives,” said Smith. “So what we want to do is help people discover and learn more.”

Andy Hunter, CEO and founder of Bookshop.org, framed the partnership as part of a broader, unexpected revival in independent bookselling. Speaking at the event, Hunter shared data showing that after years of decline, indie bookstores are on the rise.

As of 2020, more bookstores have opened than closed the year, he said. The American Booksellers Association has grown from 1,900 members to 3,200, and 90 percent of those stores now sell through Bookshop.org. Over the past five years, the platform has sent more than $52 million to independent bookstores in the US and UK.

“Booksellers are important to readers, writers, publishers, and to keeping books an important part of our culture,” Hunter said. “[Books] cultivate critical thinking, empathy, and self-understanding in the world – traits that are most needed at this moment in history.”

By integrating Bookshop.org into its app, Spotify is positioning itself as a discovery engine that can translate attention into physical ownership, while clearly supporting local bookstores rather than bypassing them.

The increase builds on Spotify’s growing audiobook business. Launched just over two years ago, Audiobooks on Premium has grown from 150,000 titles to more than 500,000 English-language books in 22 markets. Spotify says it has paid hundreds of millions of dollars to authors and publishers, with more than half of its audiobook listeners under the age of 35, a much smaller audience than the traditional audiobook market.

Listening continues to rise, too: the number of people starting an audiobook on Spotify increased by 36 percent year-over-year, and total listening hours grew by 37 percent.