- Spotify-Amazon Rivalry Intensifies as Music Streaming Service Releases More Audiobook Updates
- In addition to its new Page Match tool, it’s partnering with Bookshop.org to let you buy physical books through the app.
- Their goal is to support independent book retailers, but we don’t know what percentage Spotify will take from each transaction.
Update: Spotify responded to our request for comment on how payments work when purchasing physical books through the app. The company provided the following statement:
When someone purchases a physical book on Spotify, the order is fulfilled and fulfilled through Bookshop.org, which funnels sales through its network of local bookstores. A purchase through Spotify contributes to a profit-sharing fund that Bookshop.org distributes to participating independent bookstores, helping local bookstores remain an integral part of their communities. Spotify is not involved in the pooling or distribution of funds.
The original story follows:
Spotify has more audiobook updates on the way, and in addition to the launch of its new Page Match tool, the company is partnering with Bookshop.org, allowing you to buy physical books through the streaming service, in what looks like a strategic move to compete with Amazon.
Similar to Amazon’s Whispersync feature, which lets you switch between your Kindle e-book and its audiobook version on Audible, Page Match is a “first-of-its-kind feature that allows readers to seamlessly switch between a print or e-book and its audiobook on Spotify with a single scan,” as Spotify says.
If you’re an avid reader who enjoys floating between physical literature and audiobooks, Page Match lets you pick up where you left off, putting an end to the days of searching for the exact page you’re on when you want to switch to audiobook format, and vice versa.
To get started, all you have to do is scan the page of your book or e-book using the camera in the Spotify app, and then Page Match will take you to the exact spot on the audiobook version. Just a few weeks ago Spotify was testing the feature and it will be available to all audiobook users on February 23 for most English titles, but that’s not even the most interesting part of this update.
It’s Spotify vs Amazon
For the first time, you can buy physical books from retailer Bookshop.org (a sponsor of independent bookstores) directly in the Spotify app, so now the competition with Amazon is really on.
The feature will roll out later this spring, and readers in the US and UK who enjoy listening to audiobooks on Spotify will now have the option to enjoy them in physical format, “as physical books remain the preferred format for a large portion of book lovers,” Spotify says.
However, the service adds that this is more than just giving dedicated Spotify audiobook listeners easy access to purchasing physical media, sharing that it “connects discovery on Spotify with physical ownership, making it easier for readers to go from finding a book they’re interested in to enjoying it in the format they see fit,” but my question is about the partnership itself.
While it seems like a good way to support independent bookstores, Spotify always has a problem. Now that the platform will allow you to purchase physical books through links within the app, there is no doubt that you will take a percentage of these sales that, when compared to the artist’s royalties, could be converted into broadcast.
The ethos behind it all isn’t terrible, and I agree that independent retailers (whether books, music, or other physical media) need support, but there’s usually an ulterior motive when larger companies partner up like this.
We’ve reached out to Spotify for comment on how book sales will work under the new partnership, but we’ll update this story when we know more.
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