Amazon Music is bolting on a new benefit for unlimited-plan subscribers: They can now access the 1 million-plus catalog of audiobooks in the U.S. from Amazon-owned Audible. The catch? You can listen to just one book per month at a time.
Starting Tuesday, Amazon Music Unlimited customers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada can listen to one book monthly (of any length) from Audible, in addition to having unlimited access to more than 100 million songs in HD audio and hundreds of thousands of podcasts ad-free (including the entire slate of Wondery’s shows).
If you want to access more than a single Audible audiobook in within a single billing cycle, you will need to purchase them separately. Prime members can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for $9.99/month (while the cost for non-Prime users is $10.99/month).
“This is a big step for Amazon Music Unlimited becoming an all-audio service. We look at this as fundamentally redefining the value proposition” of the service, said Steve Boom, Amazon’s VP of Audio, Twitch and Games. “We see this as expanding the audiobook market to more casual listeners.” One of the goals, he said, is to provide an additional differentiation to retain subscribers longer.
The access to one Audible audiobook per month perk is not available in Amazon Music Prime (the version available to Prime members for no extra cost, which is limited to shuffle-play mode for songs based on artist, album or playlist) or the ad-supported Amazon Music Free tier. Meanwhile, Audible Plus ($7.95/month) includes access to thousands of audiobooks and podcasts including originals; Audible Premium Plus ($14.95/month) adds the ability to pick one audiobook per month that you own.
The move comes after Spotify last year added an audiobook perk that gives Premium subscribers in the U.S. and other markets up to 15 hours of audiobook listening per month for no extra charge. Spotify Premium subs can select from among 250,000 audiobook titles (out of its 375,000-plus title catalog) toward the 15-hour monthly limit.
With the bundling of Spotify’s premium plans combining music and audiobooks, the streamer is paying a lower mechanical royalty rate to songwriters in the U.S. under the 2022 settlement agreement between the National Music Publishers Assn. and streaming services.
Amazon’s Boom declined to comment on how the bundling of audiobooks to Amazon Music Unlimited might change how the company pays out music royalties. “We’re approaching all the rights involved here… from a spirit of partnership,” he said.
Amazon acquired Newark, N.J.-based Audible in 2008. Bob Carrigan, Audible’s CEO, said the opportunity to extend Audible titles to Amazon Music subscribers “enables us to captivate the next generation of listeners with a treasure trove of storytelling.”
Audible’s lineup of original and exclusive productions include “Project Hail Mary” from bestselling author Andy Weir, George Orwell’s dystopian classic “1984” starring Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo and Andrew Scott, and bestseller “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins.
Earlier this year, Audible inked a deal with J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore Publishing to co-produce a new audiobook series for the original seven Harry Potter novels. The new audiobooks, featuring a voice cast of more than 100 actors, are scheduled to premiere in late 2025 exclusively on Audible. The service also offers the complete library of Harry Potter audiobooks and related stories, including audio versions of Rowling’s 80 articles delving into Wizarding World arcana.
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