Spotify Expands Audiobook Access for Family Plan Members
Spotify is finally making audiobooks more accessible to families. For the first time, members on Spotify’s Premium Family and Duo plans can enjoy their own 15 hours of audiobook listening each month—without needing separate subscriptions. This marks a major shift in how the music-streaming giant is approaching its growing audiobooks library. The move answers one of the most common questions among Spotify users: Can I share my audiobook access with family members on the same plan? Thanks to the new Audiobooks+ plans, the answer is yes. This expansion is currently rolling out across several international markets, with a U.S. launch expected soon.
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New Audiobooks+ Plans Bring More Flexibility
The launch of Spotify’s Audiobooks+ plan is a response to growing demand from users who want more than just 15 hours of audiobook time per month. With this new add-on, Premium subscribers—including those managing Family or Duo plans—can now double their listening time to 30 hours. This is especially valuable for users who enjoy longer titles or want to finish multiple books each month. For families, it’s even better news. Spotify introduced another plan called Audiobooks+ for Plan Members, which grants individual access to 15 hours of audiobook listening for each family or duo plan member. This means every person under a shared plan gets their own time to explore the ever-expanding audiobook library.
Until now, audiobook listening on Spotify was tied to a single account—the plan manager. That limitation frustrated many families. With this change, parents, kids, and partners can finally enjoy their own books without interfering with someone else's listening quota. It’s a smart move that aligns Spotify with user expectations in 2025, especially as audiobook consumption continues to rise globally.
Availability, Access, and Add-Ons Explained
Spotify’s new audiobook access options are initially available in select regions: the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. These markets follow earlier tests in Ireland and Canada, where Spotify gathered feedback before rolling out the wider update. Although the Audiobooks Access Plan has been available to U.S. users as a standalone purchase, the Audiobooks+ for Plan Members has yet to debut there—but Spotify confirms it’s coming.
To activate audiobook access, a family or duo plan member must request it from their plan manager, who can then purchase the appropriate add-on. Spotify also offers an option to buy a one-time 10-hour top-up for those who run out of listening hours before the next billing cycle. Pricing remains market-specific and hasn’t been disclosed universally, but the value proposition is clear—more hours, more flexibility, and less friction in shared listening.
What This Means for Spotify's Audiobook Strategy
Spotify’s expansion into audiobooks reflects a larger strategy: to compete not just in music and podcasts, but in every form of audio entertainment. With the introduction of shared audiobook access, Spotify is now positioned to challenge giants like Audible, which has traditionally dominated the space with individual-only accounts. By letting families enjoy audiobooks together—or separately—Spotify is playing to its strengths in shared plans and user-first features.
This move also improves customer retention. Families are less likely to churn if multiple members benefit from the same Premium plan. And by offering audiobook access as a flexible add-on, Spotify creates upsell opportunities without alienating price-sensitive users. Audiobook publishers also win here, as the model encourages more engagement with long-form audio content across broader demographics.
Spotify’s continuous investment in audiobooks—paired with better user accessibility—signals that audiobooks are now a core part of its identity, not just an experiment. Whether you're into self-help, thrillers, biographies, or kids’ stories, Spotify wants to be your go-to app for all things audio.
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