Spotify announced on Friday that it is launching audiobook charts in the US and UK. Like the streaming giant’s music and podcast charts, the Audiobook Charts are updated weekly and highlight the best audiobooks overall and by genre. The rankings are based on listening behavior and engagement with streaming services, the company says.
The new charts are accessible to both free and paid users within the Audiobook Hub. You can find them by pressing the search button in the app and selecting the “Audiobooks” tile to enter the hub. You will then need to scroll down to the ‘Dive deeper’ section to find the chart.
The move marks Spotify’s latest investment in the audiobook space after officially supporting the audiobook format in 2022.
Since then, Spotify has continued to invest in audiobooks with additional features, such as the recently launched “Page Match” tool, which allows users to scan a page of a physical book and instantly switch to that point in the audiobook, and “Audiobook Summary,” a short audio summary that lets you catch up on what you’ve read so far.
Spotify said the new audiobook charts will benefit both readers and authors by giving listeners a reliable way to discover popular titles, while creating new opportunities for authors and the publishing industry to reach wider audiences.
“As we’ve proven through our music and podcast charts, making content easier to access, discover and enjoy increases demand,” Duncan Bruce, director of audiobook partnerships and licensing at Spotify, said in a blog post. “We’re excited to now bring this to audiobooks, giving users, publishers, and authors more ways to discover trends on Spotify and further connect books with culture in real time.”
It’s worth noting that Spotify isn’t just interested in audiobooks. That’s because the streaming giant recently ventured into physical book sales as well. Spotify announced earlier this month that, through a partnership with Bookshop.org, users in the US and UK will soon be able to purchase physical copies of books directly within the app.
