Spotify announces major free upgrade to premium accounts – and Apple Music users will be jealous

SPOTIFY has announced a major change to its premium subscriptions that will delight bookworms across the world.

UK and Australian users will be first to gain the brand new perk tomorrow (October 4), before rolling out to the US in the winter.

The streaming giant is making a huge catalogue of more than 150,000 audiobooks available at no extra cost.

Among them are bestsellers by Richard Osman, Stephen King, Michelle Obama, J. R. R. Tolkien and Adam Kay.

Users will be allowed to listen to 15 hours of audiobooks each month as part of their existing premium subscription.

Book fans hungry for more can buy a top-up for an extra 10 hours if they wish.

Titles included in the new offering will have an “Included in Premium” mark next to them.

Spotify‘s boosted offering comes amid tough competition from the likes of Apple Music and YouTube Music.

Streamers have largely focused their battle to stand out on exclusive podcasts thus far.

Spotify blew an estimated £18million on a podcast deal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which only yielded 12 episodes and a “Holiday special” in the space of 31 months.

The pair were finally axed back in June.

Spotify says its catalogue is the largest of any subscription-based audiobook streaming platform currently on the market.

More than 70 per cent are bestselling titles from around the world, including big names like Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and RB Media, as well as independent publishers like Dreamscape and Pushkin.

Spotify first decided to add audiobooks to the app in November 2022.

But you had to purchase each title individually.

A Premium subscription for Spotify costs £10.99 for an individual plan – the same as Apple Music and YouTube Music.

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