Music streaming platform Spotify has purchased Findaway, a platform that allows users to create, distribute, and monetize their own audiobooks, for 117 million euros (approx $119 million), the company revealed during a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Findaway will provide the infrastructure for what will become the third pillar of Spotify’s business. The streaming service first announced the acquisition last November, reports The Verge.
“We believe that audiobooks, in their many different forms, will be a massive opportunity,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek was quoted as saying to investors at a presentation last month.
“And just as we’ve done in podcasting, expect us to play to win,” Ek added.
Audiobook functionality will arrive inside Spotify “quite imminently”, he said this week.
Executives have indicated that the service will operate differently than the industry’s dominant player, Amazon’s Audible.
Audible subscribers pay $14.95 per month for one credit a month, with one credit worth one book.
It is unclear whether premium subscribers will have unlimited access to audiobooks, but content and ad business chief Dawn Ostroff indicated last month that there will be an ad-supported tier, the report said.
Ek is confident that audiobooks will deliver the kind of earnings investors are looking for, with profit margins north of 40 percent.
