Spotify Technology is getting into the physical book business.
Beginning this spring, the Swedish streaming service will allow premium subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. to buy hardcovers and paperbacks through its app, in partnership with Bookshop.org. Spotify launched its audiobook offering in 2022.
Bookshop.org, which shares some of its profits with local, independent bookstores, will set retail prices, hold inventory and fulfill sales for Spotify.
Spotify will receive an undisclosed affiliate fee for purchases made inside its app.
The offering will be one more point of competition for retail giant Amazon.com, the country’s largest online bookseller whose business units include Audible, the dominant audiobook service.
“We want to expand the audience for books,” said Owen Smith, Spotify’s global head of audiobooks.
Spotify began selling audiobooks on an a la carte basis to U.S. users in September 2022; the following year it made 15 hours of audiobook listening available to premium subscribers in select countries every month. Users can also opt to purchase additional listening time.
Publishers welcomed Spotify’s entry into the audiobook market, viewing it as a needed rival to Amazon and an opportunity to connect with new audiences. News Corp said Spotify contributed to increased audiobook sales for HarperCollins Publishers in its most recent fiscal year.
“They expanded the market and they’re reaching a younger demographic,” said Chantal Restivo-Alessi, chief digital officer and chief executive, international, for HarperCollins Publishers. News Corp also owns The Wall Street Journal.
Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a content partnership with Spotify.
Digital audiobook sales increased 2.4% to nearly $1 billion through November 2025 compared with the same period a year ago, according to the Association of American Publishers. By contrast, print book sales in 2025 were flat, according to book tracker Circana BookScan.
Andy Hunter, founder and chief executive of Bookshop.org, said there is also a growing number of people who want to own both physical and audio formats of the same book.
“They read at night and then listen on the way to work in their car or subway,” he said.
Spotify is also introducing a feature called Page Match, enabling users to sync their audiobooks with physical books by scanning a page from a printed book or ebook reader with their phone, then finding that exact spot in the audiobook edition.
Smith said more than half of premium-tier users are trying audiobooks. “This is meeting people where they are,” he said.
Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at Jeffrey.Trachtenberg@wsj.com
