Early reports are filtering in on Spotify’s new audiobook listening program that offers 15 free hours for paid subscribers. So far, Britney Spears’ memoir has been the most listened to—totally unsurprising, given the likely interests of Spotify’s subscriber base. Spotify also mentions that Brianna West’s nonfiction self-help book, The Mountain Is You, has increased sales by 3,000 percent since joining their premium catalog. (West is considered a “Voices” author, distributed by indie audiobook distributor Findaway Voices, which Spotify recently acquired.) So far, Spotify users have listened to 90,000 individual titles out of a catalog of 200,000 titles.
Meanwhile: Audible declines to say if its layoffs are over. Earlier this year, it laid off 5 percent of its staff, and more could be let go in the future. But Spotify has gone through a round of layoffs as well, with a 17 percent cut to its workforce in December 2023. While Spotify is considered a threat to Audible, it will take a good many more months before anyone knows how much damage it may do to Audible’s growth or bottom line. Read Eugene Kim at Business Insider.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
