Spotify’s new audiobook streaming could have ‘devastating effect’, says Society of Authors

The industry body says the music giant’s move to make more than 150,000 titles available has not been discussed with authors and may compete with sales

The Society of Authors (SoA) has said it is “deeply concerned” about Spotify’s new audiobook provision. The industry body cited “the devastating effect that music streaming has had on artists’ incomes”, and expressed its fear that authors may suffer in a similar way.

“The streaming of audiobooks competes directly with sales and is even more damaging than music streaming because books are typically only read once, while music is often streamed many times,” a statement from the SoA read.