Spotify is not limiting its audio ambitions to podcasts and music. Today the company announced that it is promoting its audiobook experiments with the launch of nine new audiobooks available exclusively on the app. As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, among the works, which are all in the public domain, is David Dobrik narrating the work of Mary Shelley Frankenstein; Forest Whitaker reading the memories of Frederick Douglass Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave; and Hilary Swank narrating Kate Chopin’s The awakening. It is also launching an audio series called Sitting with the classics on Spotify, a show in which Harvard professor Glenda Carpio explains the stories and narratives of the stories to a modern listener.
While this is Spotify’s biggest audiobook effort to date, it is not its first attempt. The company partnered with JK Rowling’s Wizarding World to launch Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in audio form. The chapters, which came out weekly, featured celebrities like Daniel Radcliffe, Dakota Fanning, Claudia Kim and David Beckham. (The program no longer appears to be listed on Spotify, but we will contact you for clarification and will update if we receive a response.)
The decision to look for audiobooks is an interesting one, especially considering the fact that the company is starting with public domain works, which means that Spotify does not have to pay to license them. It is a lower risk investment for the company, which may be necessary, as some analysts are beginning to advise customers to sell their shares because they do not see podcast efforts generating high returns.