Spotify partners with Storytel and continues expansion into audiobooks

The tie-up, which will go live later in 2021, allows existing Storytel subscribers to connect their account through Spotify to access their audiobooks within Spotify’s app.

The partnership is the first example of what’s possible with Spotify’s recently introduced Open Access Platform, which aims to give creators and publishers a way to extend their reach.

The company briefly spoke about its plans for the Open Access Platform, including a detailed roadmap for paid podcast subscriptions, Spotify HiFi, and other new features.

“We want everyone to have access to great stories, and today Storytel offers more than 500,000 audiobooks on a global basis across 25 markets,” said Jonas Tellander, Storytel founder and chief executive officer.

“Partnering with Spotify make amazing audiobook experiences and exciting authorships easier than ever to access for our customers, while we will also be tapping into the opportunity of reaching new audiences who are on Spotify today, but have not yet experienced the magic of audiobooks,” he added.

The company has 1.6m subscribers according to Reuters. Spotify, meanwhile, has 356m users, including 158m subscribers across 178 markets.