Amazon Music are now bundling audiobooks – bad news for artists?
Amazon Music follow Spotify’s bundling of audiobooks, but will the same controversies over artists payments also follow them?
Amazon is home to the world’s favourite audiobook platform, Audible. They have announced their following rival music stream Spotify’s footsteps by integrating Audible into Amazon Music, for audiobook listens.
Amazon Music subscribers will now be able to listen to one audiobook a month from Audible’s library. The benefit comes at no extra cost to Amazon Music subscribers, offering great value for money. The bonus feature essentially adds Audible’s own subscription benefit of an audiobook a month.
Unlike an Audible subscription, users will only be able to listen to the audiobook and do not keep it in their library. Users will have to choose between carrying on their audiobook or picking a new one in the next billing cycle if they’ve not finished.
Steve Boom, Vice President of Audio for Amazon, said: “The combination of Amazon Music and Audible, two pioneers in audio streaming, brings an unmatched selection of audio entertainment to customers. Amazon Music redefined audio streaming through the magic of Alexa, and with the introduction of high definition and spatial music.
“Today, Amazon Music introduces the audiobook category to a brand-new audience by making Audible’s industry-leading catalog of audiobooks available to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.”
In October 2023, Spotify added audiobooks to their Premium music subscription offering. Spotify offer 15 hours of audiobook streaming each month to Premium subscribers and Family plan managers. However, the news came with baggage as it was revealed that Spotify would pay less to songwriters because of their bundled service.
There’s no confirmation that Amazon will follow Spotify’s bundling and the fallout that came with it. As the MLC continue to challenge Spotify on their bundling rates for songwriters, Amazon may wait to see the outcome before making any licensing changes. However, it certainly raises concerns for songwriters facing yet another potential threat to their livelihoods.
Amazon Music Unlimited’s Audible bonus is now available for individual plan subscribers and the account holder of family plans. Listeners in the U.S., U.K., and Canada are the first to gain access to a monthly audiobook.