Spotify is dramatically expanding its audiobook business, taking the service from 22 markets to more than 180 worldwide by the end of 2026.

Announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the rollout will also broaden Spotify’s audiobook catalogue with more titles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish, among other languages. In total, the platform says its audiobook offering will span more than 120 languages.

The expansion marks another major step for Spotify since it began selling individual audiobooks in the US in September 2022. It followed that in November 2023 by giving eligible Premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening each month.

While Spotify has not disclosed complete financial results for its audiobook business, the company says the format is gaining momentum. Monthly audiobook listeners have increased by almost 40 per cent over the past year, while total listening hours have risen by more than 30 per cent.

Spotify’s audiobook catalogue has also grown to more than 800,000 titles.

The company says Audiobooks+, its add-on that gives subscribers an additional 15 hours of audiobook listening each month, now has more than one million subscribers. Spotify says the service is generating more than US$100 million in annual recurring revenue.

Audiobooks have become an increasingly important part of Spotify’s efforts to expand beyond its core music streaming business. The company has already invested heavily in podcasts and has been branching into other areas, including fitness, as it looks to give subscribers more reasons to spend time on the platform.

Spotify is also increasing its focus on artificial intelligence, including plans that will allow Premium subscribers to create AI-generated covers and remixes.

“Books change how we see the world, and the people in it,” Spotify VP of Audiobooks Owen Smith said.

“For a lot of people, audiobooks are how they find their way back to reading, on the commute, on a walk, or at the end of a long day.”

Smith said expanding audiobooks to more than 180 markets would allow millions more listeners to discover the format while giving authors and publishers access to audiences they previously could not reach.