Spotify takes on Amazon's Audible, launches audiobook service for U.S. users

FILE PHOTO: The Spotify logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Spotify Technology SA is locking horns with Amazon.com Inc's Audible, with the launch of its audiobook service in the United States.

Spotify users in the country will have access to over 300,000 audiobook titles, the Swedish firm said in a blog on Tuesday.

Users will be able to browse the catalog on the Spotify app and purchase through the website, it added, similar to the purchase of Spotify subscription.

The audiobooks market was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2021 and was expected to grow at about 14% compound annual growth rate to $9.3 billion by 2026, according to media consultancy Omdia.

Spotify has charted an aggressive expansion path as it looks to supplement its earnings from music streaming with other revenue-generating formats such as podcasts, on which it has spent more than $1 billion to add popular names such as Joe Rogan to its roster.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)