Nigerian authors and publishers now have a new way to reach listeners around the world. Spotify launched its audiobook service in Nigeria on Wednesday.
This service allows local publishers and self-published authors to share their audiobooks with listeners in over 180 countries through Spotify for Authors.
Spotify mentioned that its audiobook partnerships are non-exclusive. This means that writers and publishers can also share their works on other platforms.
The platform gives information about the audience. This helps authors and publishers see who listens to their books and how they interact with them.
Spotify shared this news in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. They also said that the Nigerian catalogue has more than 350,000 titles at launch.
The company plans to keep adding more titles as local publishers, distributors, and independent authors join the service.
But they did not say how many Nigerian books were available at launch. They also did not provide details about how local authors and publishers will share revenue.
Audiobooks give authors a new way to reach readers who may not have time or interest in printed books.
This format also allows Nigerian writers to connect with audiences outside Nigeria without relying only on physical distribution.
With Spotify for Authors, publishers and self-published writers can upload their audiobooks. They can make them available alongside titles from international publishers.
Owen Smith, Spotify’s Vice President of Audiobooks, said this expansion is meant to connect writers and publishers with audiences they could not reach before.
He added that audiobooks can help people get back into reading. They can listen while commuting, walking, or doing other daily activities.
Spotify mentioned that both Free and Premium users in Nigeria can access the audiobook catalogue. But listening to audiobooks is not automatically included in an existing Premium subscription.
Users can buy Audiobooks+, a monthly add-on that gives 15 hours of audiobook listening for N2,300.
Only the time spent listening counts against the monthly allowance. The hours will reset at the end of each billing cycle. This means unused time will not roll over to the next month.
Listeners who use up their monthly hours can buy a 10-hour top-up for N2,700.
They can also buy individual audiobooks separately for ongoing access without depending on the monthly limit.
Spotify did not list a fixed price for individual books. They noted that pricing can vary by market and title.
The 15-hour monthly allowance may cover some books in full. But for longer titles, listeners may need more hours or more than one month to finish.
Spotify has added a special audiobook section to its app. Here, users can search for titles, browse categories, and get recommendations.
These recommendations come from a listener’s activities across audiobooks, music, and podcasts.
One new feature is called Page Match. It is for people who switch between printed or electronic books and audiobooks.
Users can scan a book’s ISBN barcode and enter a page number. This helps them find the same spot in the audiobook version.
Spotify said Page Match works in over 30 languages and has been used by more than one million readers.
The platform also saves a listener’s progress across different devices. For example, a book started on a mobile phone can continue in a car or smart speaker.
Other features include offline downloads and a sleep timer that stops the book after a chosen time.
Spotify said their service works on over 2,000 types of devices.
The launch in Nigeria is part of Spotify’s plan to expand its audiobook service from 22 countries to over 180 markets by the end of 2026.
The company introduced audiobooks to Premium subscribers in some countries three years ago. This was part of their move beyond music and podcasts.
Spotify said audiobook listening on their platform rose almost 40 percent over the past year. Total listening hours also increased by more than 30 percent.
They added that Audiobooks+, launched just over a year ago, now has more than one million subscribers.
Spotify has 777 million monthly users, including 300 million paying subscribers, across more than 180 markets.
Nigerian users need to update the Spotify app and open the Audiobooks section, or search for a title directly.
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