Spotify is investing over $1.1 million to increase audiobook production in languages beyond English, starting with French and Dutch. The company says only about 3% of French books and around 7% of Dutch titles are available in audio format. To address this gap, Spotify hopes to support authors and publishers in creating more non-English audiobooks.
While emphasizing its continued use of human narrators, Spotify has also partnered with ElevenLabs to help authors create AI-narrated audiobooks at a lower cost. This move has raised concerns in the publishing industry about the future role of AI in narration.
Spotify’s audiobook expansion has also drawn criticism from the music industry. Since audiobooks are bundled with music in Premium plans, music royalties have been affected. The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) sued Spotify over these changes, but a federal judge sided with the company, stating that audiobook streaming qualifies as a separate service.
This decision could influence how other streaming platforms handle bundling and royalties in the future.
