Spotify has decided to step into the world of audiobooks, starting with nine books that you’ve heard of and that are told by some names you recognize. If you run out of music and podcasts to listen to, it might not be a bad idea to have a better understanding of literary classical artists.
These nine audiobooks are part of the public domain, but these original recordings are exclusive to Spotify. The company uses these nine to determine if this would be an acceptable addition to the service. Each audiobook contains a 10 to 15 minute ‘Sitting with the Classics on Spotify’ chapter with Harvard professor Glenda Carpio discussing history, narratives and themes. Here are the titles offered:
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, narrated by David Dobrik
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, narrated by Forest Whitaker
- The awakening by Kate Chopin, narrated by Hilary Swank
- Persuasion by Jane Austen, narrated by Cynthia Erivo
- Cane by Jean Toomer, narrated by Audra McDonald
- Great expectations by Charles Dickens, narrated by James Langton
- Jane eyre by Charlotte Bronte, narrated by Sarah Coombs
- Pass by Nella Larsen, narrated by Bahni Turpin
- Red coat of arms of courage by Stephen Crane, narrated by Santino Fontana
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek first thought about adding audiobooks to his portfolio when he saw their popularity among German users. A few months ago, Spotify posted a post for a head of audiobooks, further indicating interest in the market. The company has experimented with audiobooks before and brought the first book in the Harry Potter series to the platform last year with stories by celebrities such as Daniel Radcliffe, David Beckham and Dakota Fanning, but since then we have not heard anything.
You can now listen to these audiobooks worldwide for free on Spotify. They should appear fairly close to the top of your Home tab, so they are easy to find.
