Spotify just made it easier to catch up on long reads without actually reading

It seems that Spotify wants to become a one-stop solution for all our audio needs. The music streaming giant slowly added audiobooks and podcasts to its platform, and now it is adding magazine articles. 

In a post on its website, Spotify said that over 650 long-form magazine articles are now available to listen to. The curated collection is produced by Spotify’s in-house audiobooks team and pulls from some of the biggest names in publishing, including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, GQ, WIRED, Vanity Fair, and Pitchfork.

Each narrated Article runs under two hours and fits right into Premium users’ existing monthly audiobook allowance. Free users can purchase individual articles for $1.99 each.

Why is Spotify doing this?

The music streaming business is a cut-throat one, and Spotify is already dominating it. The company knows that there’s only so many novel features it can offer to compete with the other music streaming providers, as the content it delivers can be found on any platform. In other words, there’s no content exclusivity keeping users on its platform, and they can easily switch. 

To keep users tied to its platform, Spotify has been steadily building out its podcasts and audiobooks library and creating a catalogue of exclusive content. Articles are the next logical step.

Spotify sees shorter listens as a way to ease people into longer-form audio content like books. It can act as a gateway for more people to join its platform. You listen to a great Rolling Stone feature, enjoy the experience, and before you know it, you cancel your other music and audiobook subscriptions and join Spotify.

What kind of articles can you expect?

The collection focuses on topics Spotify already knows its users love, which means music, culture, and entertainment are going to dominate. That makes sense given the publishing partners involved.

Spotify’s discovery and personalization features will also help surface articles that match your listening taste, so you’re not just browsing blindly through a library.

It’s a genuinely smart addition to the platform. Audio is increasingly how people consume content, and having long-form journalism sitting right next to your playlists and podcasts makes a lot of sense.