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What is the story about?
Spotify is now turning magazine stories into an audio experience as the company continues expanding beyond music and podcasts. In its latest move, the streaming platform has started rolling out narrated long-form articles from several publications, allowing users to listen to the pieces the same way they listen to audiobooks.
The new format, narrated Articles, will be accessible in English to users where Spotify ’s audiobook service is already available. Through this update, Premium users can access narrated versions of stories from well-known publications including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, WIRED, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, GQ and Vibe.
Spotify said the collection currently includes more than 650 English-language articles, each with a listening time of under two hours. The narrated stories will count toward the monthly audiobook listening limit included with Spotify Premium subscriptions.
According to Colleen Prendergast, Licensing Lead atSpotify Audiobooks, the company sees narrated journalism as a natural extension of the type of content people already consume on the platform. “By bringing shorter form content into the mix, we’re meeting audiences where they are to help build healthy listening habits, ultimately growing engagement with books over time,” Prendergast added.
Spotify says its discovery and personalisation feature will also help media publishers and magazine partners to bring "stories directly to listeners who are most likely to be excited about their content."
The company’s audiobook business has grown rapidly since its launch two years ago. Spotify claims it has attracted ‘tens of millions’ of new audiobook listeners, with listening hours increasing by 60% year over year.
Premium users currently receive 15 hours of audiobook listening every month, although additional listening time can be purchased through top-up plans. Free users will also be able to access the narrated articles, but they will need to purchase them individually for around $1.99 each.
Spotify said the narrated stories were produced internally by its in-house team, although the company has not clarified whether the narrations are created entirely by human voice actors or supported by artificial intelligence tools.
With the latest addition, Spotify appears to be positioning itself not just as a music platform, but as a broader destination for audio entertainment, journalism, and storytelling.
The new format, narrated Articles, will be accessible in English to users where Spotify ’s audiobook service is already available. Through this update, Premium users can access narrated versions of stories from well-known publications including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, WIRED, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, GQ and Vibe.
Spotify said the collection currently includes more than 650 English-language articles, each with a listening time of under two hours. The narrated stories will count toward the monthly audiobook listening limit included with Spotify Premium subscriptions.
According to Colleen Prendergast, Licensing Lead atSpotify Audiobooks, the company sees narrated journalism as a natural extension of the type of content people already consume on the platform. “By bringing shorter form content into the mix, we’re meeting audiences where they are to help build healthy listening habits, ultimately growing engagement with books over time,” Prendergast added.
Spotify says its discovery and personalisation feature will also help media publishers and magazine partners to bring "stories directly to listeners who are most likely to be excited about their content."
The company’s audiobook business has grown rapidly since its launch two years ago. Spotify claims it has attracted ‘tens of millions’ of new audiobook listeners, with listening hours increasing by 60% year over year.
Premium users currently receive 15 hours of audiobook listening every month, although additional listening time can be purchased through top-up plans. Free users will also be able to access the narrated articles, but they will need to purchase them individually for around $1.99 each.
Spotify said the narrated stories were produced internally by its in-house team, although the company has not clarified whether the narrations are created entirely by human voice actors or supported by artificial intelligence tools.
With the latest addition, Spotify appears to be positioning itself not just as a music platform, but as a broader destination for audio entertainment, journalism, and storytelling.
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