Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: Spotify drops a bunch of new tools for audiobooks, including a sleep
timer

Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:33:27 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/stream...

The Spotify audiobook experience has been lacking when compared to rivals
like Audible, but it looks like thatΓÇÖs beginning to change. The streaming
platform just announced a bevy of updates for audiobook listeners and some
are downright useful.

Perhaps the biggest one for me is the addition of a sleep timer. Audiobooks
are great for lulling people to sleep, but it sucks when you sleep through a
hundred pages and canΓÇÖt remember where you left off. The built-in sleep
timer lets users set how long the content will play. This sleep timer already
exists for podcasts and music.

Spotify users can also now make audiobook-specific playlists, helping people
keep track of what they want to read or, uh, listen to. The platform says
this tool will ΓÇ£help you keep your library organizedΓÇ¥ and that playlists
will ΓÇ£be a place for you to aggregate the audiobooks on your reading
list.ΓÇ¥ In addition to traditional playlists, the streamer will publish
curated playlists from the audiobook editorial team.

There are new Countdown Pages, which are splash pages for forthcoming
audiobooks. These let people save a book prior to the release date, making it
easy to find once it actually comes out. Spotify says this feature can be
used by authors, publishers, and narratorsΓÇ¥ to ΓÇ£help promote their
upcoming titles ahead of launch.ΓÇ¥

Spotify

Speaking of promotions, SpotifyΓÇÖs new Author Pages display biographical
information on specific writers and will allow perusal of their entire
catalogs. This is in a pilot program for now, with only a ΓÇ£select number of
authorsΓÇ¥ having access to the tool. ThereΓÇÖs also a new video player
specifically for audiobooks, that lets "select authors and publishers submit
a short video about a specific title.ΓÇ¥ The platform likens this to a
bookΓÇÖs jacket, offering a ΓÇ£taste of an audiobook before pressing play.ΓÇ¥

Finally, some audiobooks are getting a follow-along feature. This is
described as an ΓÇ£immersive visual experienceΓÇ¥ akin to a music video that
displays illustrations, photos and graphics as the audiobook is being read.
Look for this in the ΓÇ£extrasΓÇ¥ section of eligible audiobooks.

Last year, Spotify began offering 15 hours of audiobook listening to Premium
subscribers. ThereΓÇÖs also a subscription specifically for audiobooks that
costs $10 per month that provides 15 hours of listening. The Premium
subscription, however, costs $12 per month and adds ad-free music to the mix.
ItΓÇÖs good to know that humanityΓÇÖs collective musical output is worth $2
per month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/stream...
tools-for-audiobooks-including-a-sleep-timer-173327861.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528