Spotify acquires audiobook platform Findaway

Spotify has announced plans to acquire the audiobook services and distribution company Findaway for an undisclosed price. The company operates multiple businesses, including distributing audiobooks to various platforms and offering audiobook creation services under its business Findaway Voices. The company pairs authors with narrators, which could become a new and valuable source of revenue for Spotify.

According to Spotify, Findaway's technology infrastructure will let the company "quickly scale its audiobook catalog and innovate on the experience for consumers, simultaneously providing new avenues for publishers, authors and independent creators to reach new audiences around the globe."

The acquisition isn't Spotify's first foray into audiobooks. The company has previously experimented with a handful of celebrity-narrated public domain classics, and a Harry Potter audiobook at the start of coronavirus lockdowns in 2020. But the acquisition signals the streaming platform now has much greater ambitions in the space. The move also echoes Spotify's approach to podcasts, as the company used a number of acquisitions to build out its catalog and creation tools. So while it's so far unclear what exactly Findaway means for Spotify subscribers and would-be audiobook listeners, it seems there are a lot more audiobooks in the company's future.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory review and approval.

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