A fresh new year is upon us, bringing with it infinite self-improvement potential and as we all decide what our new year’s resolutions will be, “read more books” is topping lists around the world. This has led to ebooks and audiobooks fast rise in popularity thanks to their convenience and ease of access. In 2021, an estimated 131 million people listened to audiobooks and audiobook revenue went up more than 17% in the last two years, according to research by Edison. No library card – no excuse because audiobooks bring the entire collection to your earbuds. A simple way to make your way through your desired reading list one by one.
Spotify Is More Than a Music Library
Audiobooks are becoming so popular that Spotify even introduced them as a category in January 2021 – offering a wide range of genres and audiobook formats. While mainly focused on music, Spotify has expanded its reach to podcasts and audiobook services. This expansion provides a more full-spectrum set of offerings from the streaming service and allows it to compete more holistically with other platforms like Audible and Apple's various media apps. Spotify also features classics and contemporary audiobooks that can help you hit those 2022 reading goals with ease.
Even though Spotify has been greenlighted as a legit audiobook platform, its options are not listed by genre, so finding the audiobook of choice may feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. That’s why we have compiled a few tips and tricks you can use to help make the process of looking for your next read easier and even more fun.
How to Search for Audiobooks on Spotify
Obviously, you first need to get yourself well-acquainted with the Spotify search bar. Are you interested in the classics? Would you like to listen to something more contemporary? Or perhaps you prefer non-fiction? What is the book genre that interests you most?
Step 1: Search by title
If you already know the title of the free Spotify audiobook you are looking for, then all you need to do is type the book title or the author’s name and see whether it is available.
Step 2: Free search for top Spotify audiobooks
If you don’t know what you are looking for and just want to browse through the best audiobooks on Spotify then you can start by typing “Audiobooks” in the search bar and see what comes up.
The initial layout will show you a general list of popular genres such as classics, self-help books, sci-fi, contemporary classics and even fantasy Spotify audiobooks. Here you may spot something you like right away!
If you don’t see something you would want to listen to in the main audiobooks layout, then you can scroll further down where you will spot the Artists, Albums and Playlists galleries. This is where it gets much more fun!
Step 3: Go for the Spotify playlists
There are several playlists that contain full audiobooks from specific genres. If you scroll through the options you are sure to find a playlist full of the best Spotify audiobooks that match your style.
Step 4: Search by Artist
Another way to go about looking for good audiobooks on Spotify is to search by “Artist.” Artist pages are often audiobook narrators or sites that post a lot of audiobooks and lastly, there are author names that are used as artists. For example, there is a Virginia Woolf artist page with her books in audiobook format. You can find many of the bestsellers from your favorite authors, whether that be George Orwell or Charlotte Bronte, in audio format using this method.
This is not a perfect method to look for Spotify audiobooks as sometimes you may find the options could include incomplete books or books in foreign languages. However, if you do enough sleuthing you are sure to find something to your liking.
Step 5: Check out the audiobook Albums
Once you have found an audiobook you like, you can click on the three dots that appear on the right side of the title. A menu will pop up and you need to click on “Go To Album”, which will take you to the full free Spotify audiobook playlist so you can listen to the whole thing in order.
In case you want to listen to your favorite Spotify audiobook later you can add it to your saved list so you can easily access it when you log in again. However, the audiobook tracks will appear in your songs section which can be a bit annoying. To avoid this you can create a playlist for each specific audiobook.
Listen to Audiobooks on All Devices with Spotify Premium
You can access all audiobooks for free regardless of having premium or not, but if you have the free version you can only really listen on a computer.
This is because the shuffle feature is constantly on whilst using the Spotify app which will mix the chapters for you thus you won’t be listening to the audiobook from start to finish. Spoiler Alert!
If you are a Spotify Premium subscriber or lucky enough to have been presented a Spotify eGift Card, then you can enjoy audiobooks without ads from all devices, as well as download audiobooks, to listen to while offline.
Best Audiobooks On Spotify
Spotify has its own audiobooks, produced especially for the service. The platform features a classics playlist, as well as self-help books and a range of contemporary audiobooks narrated by famous actors, Youtubers and writers.
Some of our favorite Spotify audiobooks include:
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The Harry Potter series, read by actor and writer Stephen Fry.
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, narrated by Youtuber David Dobrik.
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, read by actor Michael Shannon.
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The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins and read by actress Tatiana Maslany.
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The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and narrated by actor Will Patton.
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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, narrated by Connie Booth.
So, if you want to smash your reading goals this year, Spotify’s free audiobooks have your back. We suggest you start with literary classics and expand to more genres and titles as the platform upgrades its selection. Then there you have it, one resolution you can proudly and easily cross off your list.
